LoHud.com Girls Basketball Top 10…for next season
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- April
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OK, the long awaited pre, pre, preseason Top 10 is finally here. Not that you care, but I’ve obviously been very busy lately with my various other tasks and haven’t had time to peer into my crystal ball…whatever that means.
Anyway, you can look at it this way: It’s like my family had triplets and I’ve neglected my first born. And I’m sorry. So here  assuming all things remain the same  is my 2007-08 Top 10.
1. MOUNT VERNON (16-8 in ‘06-’07): I never would’ve thought this until mid-March, but the Knights may be ready to win a gold ball in ‘08. They have three-fifths of their starting five returning in leading scorers Nadia Duncan, Kwinnyata Mercer and Lynasia Frazier, and freshman-to-be Carece Moore, who is more than ready to slide into a starting role. I also hear Mount Vernon may add a 6-2/6-3 middle schooler, which, along with eighth-grader Sade King, would provide options off the bench.
So what will make or break ‘em… the schedule. The Knights must be tested all season because they can’t rest on their laurels. They must continue to improve. If they do, there’s no limit to how good they can be.
2. NORTH ROCKLAND (18-4): As you all know, I was very high on the Red Raiders talent all season. They were too big and too skilled to not compete for a gold ball, yet they never really did, falling short on the County Center doorstep after advancing to two straight final fours. But despite an ultimately disappointing finish to the season, I cannot forget about the North Rockland that I saw last December. And with Alaina Walker, Mary Abrams and Shanekwa Kellman all back, this team will enter next season with a great chance to compete for the gold ball. Of course, Walker and Abrams must account for the loss of leading scorer Brianna Peterson.
So what will make or break ‘em… staying sharp. The Red Raiders obviously never recaptured the level that led them to wins over Lourdes and Scarsdale early in the season. And with only moderate competition in their league, it’s easy to see why. Somehow, someway, North Rockland will need to ramp up its competition in January and February, even if that means a couple scrimmages or some challenge games.
3. URSULINE (15-8): The Koalas proved their maturation late in the season before they encountered the Mount Vernon buzzsaw at the County Center. They could very easily be the best team on this list (I think the top three are rather interchangable), but they will miss Molly McGlynn. What made Ursuline so good at times last season was its ability to rotate in the post based on the foul situation or how well each girl had played. Without McGlynn they won’t have that three-player rotation, but you have to figure Lauren Thomas and Shelby Sferra can assume more duties as juniors. There’s also a lot to like with starters Rosie Crean and Tricia Liller returning, as well as sophomore guards Taylor Palmer and Shannon Ray.
So what will make or break ‘em… incoming freshmen. Unlike a Mount Vernon or a North Rockland, Ursuline may add an impact freshman or two that we’ve never heard of. For instance, both Palmer and Ray played critical minutes last season. Players like that can help a good team turn great.
4. OSSINING (14-8): This team wasn’t quite on the same level as the top three last season, but it had crept ever-so-much closer as the months went along. Ossining will return four of those five starters, including the highly-productive duo of Brittany Garrett and Kelsey Vallach. Another one-time starter, Kiki Shelton, will also return after missing the last three months with a torn ACL. This is a team that may be very deep and very experienced.
So what will make or break ‘em… a healthy Shelton. Ossining will need her athleticism to fill out its lineup because this is a team with very well-defined roles. Garrett scores and rebounds. Vallach handles the ball and makes plays. Alex Venuto shoots the 3. Shelton needs to be the glue, much like Rainey Brownlee was on Ossining teams past.
5. OUR LADY OF LOURDES (14-8): Don’t ask me who the Warriors will turn to. I know Kim Dweck could be one of the best players in the section, but beyond her they will miss UNH-bound Jacinda Williams, Jasmine Schinella, and Rebecca Bucci. Still, you know Lourdes will have a good, deep team by the time the season starts. Don’t expect the longtime Section 1 power to fade now that it lost a title.
So what will make or break ‘em… the maturation of Dweck. The trio of Williams, Schinella and Bucci had a lot of experience, and not just because they played a lot the last two years. They played in a lot of pressure-filled situations where they needed to produce. This will be Dweck’s team now so she’ll be asked to lead the Warriors every single night.
6. BEACON (17-5): The Bulldogs were the “other” team all season behind Lakeland and Pearl River, but they may be “the” team in Class A beginning right now. With Ally Biordi and Kara Tancredi leading the way, Beacon will have all but two players back and should have a chance to win it all now that the Lakeland and Pearl River seniors have graduated.
So what will make or break ‘em… history. Lakeland and Pearl River are such strong programs that you can exepct one of them  if not BOTH  to make great strides next year. But can they catch up to Beacon?
7. BRIARCLIFF (19-3): The Bears had a ton of talent last season and they will return most of it, including four-fifths of their starting five: Maggie Blair, Shelby Coon, Taylor Pescetti and Jaime Heyda. The only two teams to beat them  Albertus Magnus and Putnam Valley  should both be down, clearing the way for the championship run.
So what will make or break ‘em… their play at the point. The Bears will definitely miss Angela Pescetti’s experience and toughness. They will need to find ball-handlers, and those duties will probably fall to Angela’s sister Taylor and the 5-foot-10 Blair.
8. WHITE PLAINS (23-3): The Tigers were obviously miss Kim Adams and Liz Flooks, who have been among the best players in Section 1 for three seasons, all of which ended in championships. But with Angelei Aguirre, Paige Sprewell and Bree Bradley, who showed glimpses inside and outside as a freshman, White Plains will probably fare much better than people expect.
So what will make or break ‘em… the Aguirres. This one is simple: If the Aguirres stick in town, the Tigers will be competitive every single night because she’ll be one of the best players in the section.
9. HORACE GREELEY (12-10): If you look at my preseason Top 10 from ‘06-07, this was really the only team that burned me. But we all saw the glimpses, capped, of course, by the near-upset of Lourdes in the opening round of the playoffs. The Quakers will really miss Sarah Mirabile, who was tough and handled and shot the ball well, but they return a core group of seven seniors who all played a lot as juniors (and many as sophomores). That experience and familiarity should be a significant factor.
So what will make or break ‘em… confidence. It was clearly a problem last season when the Quakers never met their own expectations. Unlike other teams, Greeley consists of a lot of athletes who play basketball. They must believe they can win on the basketball court for it to translate to the win column.
10. IRVINGTON (15-8): Everyone knows by now that the Bulldogs initial trip to the County Center was not a fun one. But even so, the experience should prove vital to the Gillian Morleys, Riley Harringtons and Tara Gablemans of Section 1. In fact, those three underclassmen are just part of a very young core that will return almost intact. Kaitlin Degnan and Michelle Nedwick were the only two upperclassmen on either of the last two Irvington teams.
So what will make or break ‘em… this summer. We’ll know very early next season how much Irvington has improved. Why? Because with so many girls who are basketball players first, the Bulldogs should get much better during the coming months. I’d guess they’ll be among the most improved teams in the area come November.
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So I just constructed this Top 10 without the likes of…Lakeland, the Class A state champ; Pearl River and Albertus Magnus, two teams that always reach the County Center; and Scarsdale, which loses Jackie Alemany but is one of my pre, pre, preseason dark horse picks with Christine Yankou, Kerry Ryan, Chelsea LoBue, Rebecca Robison and Danielle Feigin all back. (The other is the alma mater, which returns leading scorers Meghan Murphy and Ashley Ruiz, as well as the precocious Brittany Horne.) There’s also the absence of Haldane and preseason POY candidate Brittany Shields.
So do you disagree with my Top 10? What’s your Top 10? Let me know, and I promise I’ll write back much quicker this time.
Enjoy…
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 1:16 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 think that you did a pretty solid job all and all. The only thing that will be hard to find is how good Lourdes will be. There are rumors up here in Dutchess that the Poughkeepsie 8th grade point guard from last year may transfer in, but if she does not then they are going to take a definate step back. They lost alot, and while Kim Dweck is a solid player, and Rachel Crittendon will step into a bigger role, there JV team was very weak last year (at one point pretty late in the season they had still not won a game) Beacon has a chance to be really special, as you said all but two players return from last year’s team and they return their top 6 scorers from last year. They will have some added depth, with younger players from last year being able to provide something off the bench, which is really what the team lacked this year. They were right with Pearl River, but they ran out of gas in the last 3 minutes. There four returning starters all play very competitive AAU 3 of them with a really good Hudson Valley Knights team, and one with the Westchester Hawks who have many of the girls from Ursuline and Mount Vernon I can not wait to see the Beacon-Ossining league games this year, they will be a lot of fun to watch. All in all a great job Josh, and as always I try to lend some perspective from way up here in the North.
COACHING CHANGES,INJURIES,TRANSFERS,SUMMER AND FALL PREPARATION ALL WILL PLAY A PART IN THE MAKE UP OF THE 2007-08 SEASON. THE PICKS ARE FAIR. LOOK AT THE POUGHKEPPSIE JOURNAL VARSITY BLOG FOR THE COMMENTS ON THE OLD VARSITY BASEBALL COACH WHO WON A STATE CROWN LAST SEASON. POLITICS HAS MADE OLL A HOT BED.
ballboy…Lourdes is far and away the toughest team to call. Like you said, if the team adds someone like the eighth grader from Poughkeepsie (who I hear is excellent), that instantly changes things. So even if the Warriors lost a lot  and even if they didn’t have a ton in the pipeline, as you said  that doesn’t mean things won’t change between now and November. In fact, I fully expect things to change, which is why I listed them so high.
josh, i think you did a great job here. i don’t think i would pick any other team to be in the top ten…although, like you, i am not sure of the top three. i think i would go north rock-ursuline-mt vernon, but that’s not material. the thing that really struck me when i read this was how much weaker the section will be as a whole next year. we are losing a ton of star power and i don’t see a true dominant team emerging like we have had in years past.
The eighth grader from Poughkeepsie is unbelievable, has a calm and patience to her game that you very rarely see at that early an age. She would be a definate help to Lourdes, but in all honesty as I look at who they are going to have next year, I struggle to see where they will find significant scoring on a consistent basis outside of Dweck. I could even see them having a tough time with John Jay in their league. Jay has a point guard Moran who is extremely talented, she really took over that team towards the end of the year and was only a sophmore. She had 35 points against Beacon at Marist, and hit the game winner against Poughkeepsie in sectionals. As good as Dweck is in an all around game she is not as good as Moran. Also an interesting dynamic will be what Lourdes chooses to do. Dweck is best suited to get up and down the floor, and I believe Crittendon is best suited for a set offense. I have not seen Crittendon as much but have watched Dweck alot over the past two years, and she struggles at times in halfcourt sets. She is a dynamic talent however. In terms of Beacon they are extremely dangerous. There will be nights where there two best players Tancredi and Biordi will be the two best players on the floor. The strength of the team however is that on any given night they have four legitimate options that could score 20 points a game. Between Tancredi, Biordi, Judy Abongo, and Brianna Melilli all four have shown the ability to score in bunches. There overall growth will come down to there ability to share the basketball. With that many scoring options they will have to take Lakeland’s approach of it not mattering who is the star on a particular night as long as they get a W. The other key will be if the post play of Abongo and Ally Rolla, is able to become more an integrate part of their offense. They have very talented shooters and slashers but will truly be at their best if Abongo is getting at least 8 shots a night. I also think Ossining is going to be really special, they have so much talent returning and their style is so hard to match up with. With all do respet to Onvacation I agree you may not have the star names of Lakeland or Lourdes that you can pencil into states, I feel as a whole the competition will be much stronger in the section. I also feel that there are four or five teams that could make runs at states next year. As much fun as it was to watch Lakeland accomplish what they did last year, I like the mystery and the fact that things are wide open for next year.
What does everyone think about John Jay EF??? They have 5 returning starters and a great point guard in Moran!!!
Pre season picks never matter. They just set teams and people up for rivalries, suspense and sometimes disappointments. It is where you are in the end that counts! All of these teams are respectable. If you remember, MV was not listed in the top 10 last season and we ended up there. So it may well be a team not mentioned that could surprise the rest. It is amazing what you can do when there is no pressure on you….
It is all about who can handle the pressure (players and coaches). White Plains’, Lakeland’s, and Briarcliff’s coaches and players all showed that last season…. Until they are knocked off by some other team they should not be counted out. The rest of us have to step up our games.
As for the comment about the loss of star power in our section…. I think we have rested our laurels on individuals…. This year we will see more team ball and that will lend a whole new meaning to competitiveness. There is individual talent in our section and I am proud to be a section one coach! We will have several D-1 players who will emerge in 2008….. Aguirre, Duncan, Mercer and probably Shields just to name a few. When I send college coaches letters, I often say—
Don’t sleep on Westchester County—talent looms here. With the existing and growing AAU programs like the Future Stars, Lady Knicks, Westchester Hawks etc. the growth of Girls Basketball in the next few years is going to take off. Hold on to your hats.With the media exposure of the 2007 Women’s NCAA tournament featuring Marist et. al.—-we should also begin to see the girls playing basketball at younger ages, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of each HS in the near future.
Great job Josh…... but as I want my girls to know…. it is not about where they are in the beginning…. it is where they will be in the end…. see you in the season.
Oh JJEF is a tough team and I feel no team should be counted out…. anything can happen… Good Luck to them. Good Luck to all of us!!!
Coach Patrice Moore
I thought the difference between White Plains and Mount Vernon this past season was experience. I think the edge in that department this year will go to Mount Vernon. A team with a nice mix of experienced talented seniors and exciting talented underclassmen. Good luck next season coach.
I just want to know how did Coach Moore not win Coach of the year. Please can anyone answer that
She did an amazing job, but its hard to argue w/ 27-1 and a state championship
Josh, As always great insight on teams and will be interesting to see how they do. Wanted to email you what is your email address.
Rumor has it Alaina Walker is leaving North Rockland and heading to Albertus in September. If that is true how far does North Rockland fall and does Albertus then move into the top ten?
Coach Moore,
You need to keeep a lid on M.A. He is disgraceful and totally embarasses you and your team.
If Walker transfers she’ll have to sit a year. Don’t think that is going to happen.
The first cuts were made at Empire’s last night. I believe the final 13 are:
Walker-NR
Abrams-NR
Kellman-NR
Postell-Woodlands
Blair-Briarcliff
Shields-Haldane
Murphy-Carmel
Felix-Mahopac
Ray-Ursuline
Stallings-Burke Cath.
Alexandrvicus-Holy Child
Biordi-Beacon
Moran-John Jay EF
If Walker does indeed transfer to Magnus she may not have to sit out a year because she is going to a private school. If she can prove the education is better and that’s why she is leaving than she can petition Section I and see what they say. If they decline than she is stuck with nowhere to play. It’s a roll of the dice…
That excuse would never fly. She’s better off staying put and playing her last 2 seasons at NR.
if kim Dweck in deed gets help from incoming transfers, how do u think Mesuch would handle it? In the past she’s been known to have players but not able to have a game plan that shows there full talent.