Week 1: LoHud.com Top 10, Girls Basketball
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- November
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I’ve been mulling this for a few days and, to me, no spot is tougher than No. 1. White Plains or Lakeland, which to choose?
First, you should know the teams scrimmaged Wednesday. Second, you should know I don’t know what happened. And the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to know who won which quarters or whose strength (White Plains’ guards or Lakeland’s depth and size) stood out most. In truth, I had a few items to attend to at the office yesterday and I spent some time covering Rangers practice in Greenburgh, so I didn’t have time to see the scrimmage. But that’s cool with me. How can you pick against a two-time Class AA state finalist? You can’t, not until another team proves it’s better and and scrimmages don’t necessarily do that.
Without further ado, here goes…the Tigers at the top:
1. White Plains: The Tigers return two all-section players and one all-section honorable mention. In a wide open Class AA field, they remain the favorite.
2. Lakeland: I was at their practice on Tuesday and the Hornets must be the biggest team in Section 1. They lost two starters, but may eventually be better than last season.
3. Our Lady of Lourdes: Could be listed anywhere from 1 through 5. Graduated one of Section 1’s best, but still return a handful of versatile, athletic players and will add size from JV.
4. Scarsdale: There’s more to the Raiders than Jackie Alemany. In fact, had point guard Christine Yankou not missed the semis with an injury, Scarsdale may’ve reached the title game and been even more well-respected heading into this season.
5. Pearl River: Another team that could’ve been anywhere in top 5. I think the graduation of Kaitlyn Page is a huge loss because she was so good, but the Pirates are right there with anyone.
6. North Rockland: Plenty of size, plenty of preseason hype from area coaches. Can earn respect very early with this schedule: Lourdes on Dec. 11, White Plains on Dec. 13, Scarsdale on Dec. 15.
7. Ursuline: This may be too much, but I expect a lot from the Koalas this season. They have so much back and too much history of success to not bounce back strong.
8. Horace Greeley: Quakers return a lot, but will need to show improvment off last season to keep this spot.
9. Haldane: Tried to resist mentioning Brittany Shields here, but how can I? She’s one of the best and most dominant players in Section 1.
10. Albertus Magnus: The preseason favorite in Class B has an early test, too: at Pleasantville next Wednesday.
On the bubble: New Rochelle, Ossining, Clarkstown North, Poughkeepsie, Briarcliff, Pleasantville.
Did I miss anyone???
This entry was posted
on Thursday, November 30th, 2006 at 9:00 am by Josh Thomson. 
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting, Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University, where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in history.
I know that dutchess is not in your coverage area, but we have a pretty interesting scrimmage tomorrow (Friday) between Lourdes and Beacon. The scrimmage is at Beacon and should give both teams an idea of just how good they are. Starts around six after teh JV’s scrimmage
ballboy…That does sound like a good scrimmage. Unfortunately, I’ll be out at a game. Check in Friday night and let us know how it turned out.
Can not argue with your top ten. The whispers that I hear from players and coaches on the team that might win it all this year is Scarsdale. I understand that they are well balanced and have some height to them. It should be a very competative year with a bunch of quality teams in the mix.
The Lakeland squad easily handled White Plains. They won all six quarters by a comnbined score of 58-26. White Plains failed to reach double digits in each quarter.
Tom, That’s good to know. Still  and please don’t think I’m biased or stubborn  I probably would’ve kept White Plains No. 1. The Tigers earned it with their play the last two seasons and have enough back that they deserve respect until they lose on the court (in a real game). Remember, White Plains hasn’t lost to a Section 1 team since February of 2005.
That said, No. 1 is no joke and neither are spots 2 through 10. The best teams will iron themselves out on the court and I will change the top 10 accordingly.
Thanks for checking in.
I believe that White Plains deserves the number one spot but will compete in a lot more games this season then last year. Lakeland probably gave them a good game in the scrimmage but it is a scrimmage and it is dec. 1 so you can’t make any decision. Ursuline is ranked pretty high but they are well coached but I believe still young and I believe Dobbs Ferry girls can be a sleeper in C.
Josh great work with the preview and don’t let anyone tell you about your rankings and decisions. You do enough research to put what you want and the preview came out great.
[...] Truthfully, this top 10 has long been inevitable. The only surprise is the seven weeks it took to get from there, my indecision as to who’s No. 1 to here, where Lakeland takes control of the top spot after seven weeks at No. 2. [...]
[...] On a side note, today gives everyone an opportunity to look at three of my top four teams from the preseason. It’s been a long, winding road since then, but for White Plains, Lakeland and Scarsdale it has taken them to a place we always expected they’d get to. [...]