Thoughts on Fieldston
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- March
- 26
With the season dwindling to a close but two more big games to play, I decided to track down Fieldston coach Randy Slaugther. It took about a week to get him on the phone, but I finally did just that last night. (As an aside, the euphoria didn’t exactly match my St. Saviour find, but there was definitely a little satisfaction over tracking down Slaughter.)
Anyway, Slaughter’s record is 16-4. His team is headed to Glens Falls for the second straight year after making it there last year and losing to eventual Federation Notre Dame in the semifinals.
Fieldston has fielded teams with several LoHud players in the past, but this year the independent-schools rep has one player from Westchester, starting forward Sadie Nott of Bronxville. Not averages about four points and four rebounds per game.
Fieldston’s key players are junior Brittany Thompson and a sophomore named Jacqueline. (Her name escapes me right now, and unfortunately my notes are in my e-mail, which suddenly dos not work at home because the internet is the death of us…) Thompson is the leading scorer at over 15 PPG, and Jacqueline (_ insert last name here) averages 7 APG.
My impression of Slaughter was that he really had a plan. He said Fieldston doesn’t have much size (its biggest player is a 5-foot-10 center), but it likes to push the tempo and create offense with quick shots. His team doesn’t excel in the half court, which means it must move the ball against a much bigger Briarcliff team bent on getting every rebound.
Fieldston doesn’t have game film on Briarcliff but does have some info. Slaughter knows what awaits him, but remains hopeful: His club reached Glens Falls last year by beating top-seeded Poly Prep. He said Poly Prep had a pair of big forwards who went on to play Division I basketball, including 6-foot-1 Cosima Highham (Bucknell), and that memory gives him hope the Bears’ size can be solved.
I guess we shall see…
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 11:39 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 predict Briarcliff by 20 at the half and then gets lazy in the second half to win by only 12-14. Saturday game the really intriguing one.
One word for Fieldston – overmatched
Josh a little confused by your statement that Briarcliff would do better in a slower pace game. Obviously you have not followed the Bears who can run with the best of them. When they get running they are at their best. Shelby beats most opponents down the floor and the guards, Savina, Maggie and Taylor love to push the ball and if they keep it under control it is a sight to behold. The Bears have run many opponents out of the gym when the other team tries to run with them. They not only have size they have speed and conditioning.
hoopsfan…I didn’t say Briarcliff would do better in a slower-paced game. I was just trying to pass along the thoughts of the Fieldston coach, who said his team would do better to speed the game up. If you think that means I “have not followed the Bears” then I don’t know what to tell you.
My hope was to balance things out a little and give you what Fieldston thought it needed to do to compete. Obviously, Briarcliff is fully capable of winning at any game as you duly noted. I just suggest you not consider everything a slight.