Scouting the opponents
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- March
- 5
Scouting is the term du jour around The Journal News office this week.
Of course, we’re busy trying to figure out who LoHudders are playing in the state playoffs, but we’re also preparing for a big game of our own  the first-ever TJN-RNN Ol’ Man Classic, where a bunch of guys drifting gracelessly out of our athletic prime will challenge one another in a full court game of hoops. Someone bring the oxygen!
We should have a solid team. Justin Jones is our star (he scored almost 17 PPG as a senior at Nyack), but we have a few other guys with varsity experience, including resident trash-talker Alex Myers. Should be fun.
We have two guys to worry about. One’s a ringer who has questionable ties to RNN. The other is Ben Sosenko, who’s about 6-foot-1 and played high school ball in Florida. Ben’s a little soft (isn’t everyone from Florida?) so we hope to wear him out.
Anyway, you’ll be hearing more about the TJN-RNN Ol’ Man Classic in the coming week, but what you probably care about is this: Who the heck are these opponents of Pearl River, Briarcliff and Haldane?
Glad you asked. Here’s what I found out:
CORNWALL
Section: 9 (Orange County)
Record: 18-5
Opponent: Pearl River
Game: Class A regional final, 6 p.m. tomorrow night at Pace University
How they got here: Beat Section 4’s Oneonta in regional semifinals, 57-31
Key players: Allison Cleary, Jr., G; Christina Jordan, Sr., G
Links:
 Middletown Times-Herald Record has a solid home for high school sports, Varsity 845
 Game story from Regional semifinals
 Game story from Section 9 championship game
A closer look: Cornwall won its championship a year ago but ran into a dominant Lakeland team. The Green Dragons became another contender who fell at the thrown of the unbeaten state champs. How well they will fare this season is tough to gauge. Lakeland was so good, and Pearl River enters the tournament as a bit of an unknown. Did the Pirates thrive against suspect competition in Class A? Or are they a team on the rise? … If you want to draw a parallel, forget Lakeland. The better comparison comes with Burke Catholic, which beat Cornwall twice. Briarcliff shut down Burke. If you connect all the dots, Pearl River should have a solid chance to make its first final four in program history. First, it’ll have to contend with an all-guard offense led by Jordan, a shooter, and Cleary, who likes to push the ball. On defense, the Green Dragons generally play man-to-man.
HAMPTON BAYS
Section: 11 (Suffolk County, Long Island)
Record: 21-4
Opponent: Briarcliff
Game: Class B regional final, at St. Joe’s College, Patchogue, 8 p.m. tonight
How they got here: Beat Section 8’s Malverne 56-40 in Class B Long Island championship
Key players: Kelly Cavallo (6-2), Sr., C; Genna Kovar, Sr., PG
Links:
 Game story from Long Island championship game
 Newsday’s girls basketball blog
 Game story from Suffolk County small-school championship
 Game story from Section 11 championship
A closer look: It’s only a few hours away, but you’re going to see me write the name Kelly Cavallo once or twice. First of all  controversy alert!  she transferred from Westhampton in December, if you can believe that, and has led Hampton Bays quite far. Check out her 35-point, 21-rebound performance against defending champ Wyandanch in the Section 11 final. You may remember Wyandanch from last year…that’s the team that beat Magnus in the regional final. … You may want to draw a comparison to Briarcliff’s matchup with Emily Stallings, but apparently Cavallo is more of a post player. Stallings like to step away from the basket. Cavallo is legit though, as evidenced by her scholarship to St. Joe’s (PA). The Bears will have to rotate bodies inside to stop her…maybe even dedicate more than one. But Briarcliff should have the deeper team, giving it a real chance to make the final four. … Kovar is the other player the Bears must contend with. She’s not a scorer, but she’s a playmaker very adept at pounding it inside to Cavallo.
EAST ROCKAWAY
Section: 8 (Nassau County, Long Island)
Record: 19-2
Opponent: Haldane
Game: Class C state regional final, 5:30 p.m. tonight at St. Joe’s College in Patchogue
How they got here: Beat Section 11’s Stony Brook 31-25 in Class C Long Island championship
Key players: Kelly Hughes (5-11), Sr., F; Emily D’Archangelis (5-6), G
Links:
 Newsday’s girls basketball blog
 Game story from Long Island championship
A closer look: Here’s a team primarily based on its defense and the inside presence of Hughes. The senior is an athlete. She’s headed to Muhlenberg to play soccer, which, at her height, is a testament to her footwork. East Rockaway likes to press, meaning Haldane’s ball-handlers Scotti King and Emily Marsh will have to help Brittany Shields get into the offense. The guards, like D’Archangelis, are used to pressure dribblers and push the ball in the paint. They aren’t really required to score much. … Like Haldane (15 of 16 years in states), East Rockaway has a lot of experience here, having made it to the state playoffs in five of the last six years. (Ironically, last year was the one year East Rockaway didn’t make it, kind of like Haldane.) The teams met in the regional final in 2006 and Haldane lost, costing it what seemed like another routine trip to the final four. The Blue Devils haven’t been back since.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 11:25 pm 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.
It would be interesting to know how Rod Boone, former Journal News writer, now at Newsday, sees the games.
All that Pearl River needs to do to beat Cornwall is defend the three pointer. I have seen Cornwall four times this year, and in none of those games did they shoot less that 25 threes. They are a team that lives on the drive and kick. Most of their guards when they do penetrate, are not doing so to score, but instead to dish to a shooter. The shame of the whole thing is that Cornwall has a decent post player, who could be an impact player but they do not look to her at all. If they did look to her she might give Pearl River some trouble. However if Pearl River plays the way they did against Beacon they should win by 15 points. It is a good match-up for Pearl River, in that Cornwall does not have that much size, outside of the one post player, and they do not rebound the ball exceptionally well. Good luck Pearl River, I think a trip to the final four is in the cards for you, however there are some real solid teams once you get to Troy.
Pressure Cornwall’s guards is all that is required. They have no inside game.
Mac…Rod’s my boy, but he doesn’t cover girls hoops there. I did talk to a Newsday reporter though, and he gave me some quality info.
who will win the maac womens’ title??????????? will the lo hud girls’ coaches look to coaching college ball? fordham could have an opening.
Josh,
Willis Mcgahee, Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Jonathan Vilma, Dan Morgan, Michael Barrow, Jesse Armstead, Sean Taylor, R.I.P., Antrell Rolle, Phillip Buchanon, Andre Johnson, Santana Moss, and several others want you to call them up and tell them Florida is soft.
Re: winning the MAAC. Did you see the MAAC awards handed out yesterday. Fitz(Marist) Soph. Player of the Year, Allenspach(Marist) Rookie of the year, Johnson (Marist) Soph. 6th man/woman award, and last but not least Giorgis, Coach of the Year. Not sure who got defensive player, but it wasn’t a marist player. Liz Flooks made the all rookie team, unfortunately, Niagara lost in first round last night.