On Day 1 of my venture into blogging, circumstances landed me at nearby White Plains High School.

I was there to lock down something that will eventually be part of our high school basketball preview on LoHud.com. While I waited to speak to Sean Kilpatrick of the boys team, which practiced in a nearby gym, I checked out two quarters of the White Plains girls’ scrimmage against NYC-power JFK of the Bronx. By pure chance, the last team I covered last season — the two-time defending Class AA champion Tigers — was the first team I covered this season (although, admittedly, there was no notebook or tape recorder present).

Admittedly, my first impression wasn’t of White Plains, but of Kennedy: If that team isn’t the 2007 PSAL champ, I don’t know anything about basketball.

Kennedy has lived in the shadow of Murry Burgtraum, but with no Epiphanay Prince, “Miss 113”:http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/2006-02-02-prince_x.htm, Kennedy has to be a favorite, with size, speed and athleticism aplenty. One of Kennedy’s guards is headed to Marquette and its center must be 6-2 or 6-3, but she’s very athletic.

I tell you this not because I want to bore you with details on a team from the Bronx, but because it helps explain why White Plains lost the first quarter of the scrimmage 20-2. Angelei Aguirre actually scored at the buzzer or it would’ve been a shutout.

White Plains hasn’t been handed its lunch like that in a while, especially not in that gym and especially not since its current group of players joined the varsity. Have times changed??? I seriously had to consider it for a while. But in the second period the Tigers hit some easy shots they’d missed to start the game, made a few deep 3’s (two from Liz Flooks, one from Kim Adams), and began to settle down and make plays on defense. The teams played even in that second quarter and (more importantly) looked much more even. Perhaps White Plains is a favorite to win again after all, which I firmly believed before tonight.

Here’s why I still believe it as I sit here: No team has a trio at the level of Flooks, Adams and Aguirre. Once again, Flooks showed today, even in a scrimmage, that she is as tough as they come and a great, great teammate. Adams, who just started playing basketball last Monday after two top 10 finished at the state swim meet, is extremely athletic at 5-10. And Aguirre, well…you’ll hear me talk a lot about her this season, I can guarantee. No player I’ve seen the last three seasons has dominated games without scoring like she has.

Every coach I’ve spoken with so far admits she’s one of the best around, regardless of stats. And of the girls I saw who didn’t play much last year, a few looked capable of adding something as role players. To me, the most noteworthy was Jenn Anasta, a senior guard/forward who showed some good range during the scrimmage.

OK, that’s all for now. I’ll plan to post previews for Classes AA, A, B, and C as the week continues. Also, check out some extra features later in the week, like my LoHud.com Top 10 list, which will debut Thursday, and our girls basketball preview, which runs in the paper on Friday, Dec. 1st.

Thanks for the comments so far and let me know if you have any questions…