For the second time in four years, Mount Vernon entered February as the clear-cut favorite to win the Class AA title. The Knights beat all comers. They beat many of them twice. And they beat most by double digits.

With two of the best players in the area and excellent depth, Mount Vernon appeared unbeatable. But looking back there were signs the Knights had started to fade. They were undefeated in Section 1, but their margins of victory were smaller as the playoffs drew nearer. They averted an upset loss to White Plains in early February, but it wasn’t a time to sign with relief. It was a sign of things to come.

As well all know, Mount Vernon was finally slayed by White Plains and a legendary performance by Angelei Aguirre, The Journal News’ Westchester/Putnam player of the year, in the Class AA final. Nadia Duncan and Kwinnyata Mercer are gone, leaving the Knights as a contender but no longer a favorite.

They do return a great deal of talent, including two of the better players in the area in 6-foot-1 Shanyce Stewart (left) and combo guard Taylor Palmer, a pair of all-section juniors. Both come off successful seasons with the AAU Gauchos and have received interest from a number of Division I programs, namely Iona, Columbia, Siena, Towson and UMass. They should form one of the best duos in the section.

Palmer, who started at the point for Ursuline as a freshman and for MV last season, probably won’t start there this year. She will instead slide to the 2 to make room for Sade King, a small but skilled freshman who already has two seasons of experience on the varsity. “Hands down, this will be her team to lead,” coach Patrice Wallace-Moore said.

The Knights will also feature a healthier, slimmer Lubirdia Gordon, the 6-foot-4 eighth grader who spent most of the season injured last year. Gordon worked hard in the offseason and now has the ability to run the floor. She should have a major impact in the future, but that future may be now. She has the type of size to dominate.

MV also returns versatile sophomore Carece Moore, who has two years of varsity experience, excellent size for a wing player, and the type of speed that will make her a force on defense. Moore has contributed each of the last two seasons but should be ready to start and make a major impact.

Wallace-Moore had two other players to round out what should be a seven-player solid rotation: Tatiana Lewin, who can be explosive on offense, and Maquasia Campbell, who is athletic and can serve the role of defensive stopper. If MV can find players No. 8, 9 and 10, it should be able to compete for the championship a little ahead of schedule. (Remember: The rotation will include two juniors, a sophomore, a freshman and an eighth grader.)

“We will win, we will lose, but we will prepare for the run in the end,” Wallace-Moore said.

Sure, the Knights were disappointed to fall short last season, but they also rallied behind two junior stars and a bevy of young role players to reach the championship game in 2007. With a new season just underway, does that sound familiar?

With a talented junior point guard and seven seniors hungry to play deep into March, Maria Regina won a CHSAA Class B state championship and won it in a flourish. The Tigers cruised through the season, beat Cardinal Spellman in the city championship and dominated in the state final four. Their season was as impressive as that of any team in the area.

Maria returns that PG, senior star Bianca Kowgios, a first-team Journal News all-star, but just about everybody else is gone. Versatile leader Natalie Catavero. Sharp-shooter Amanda Robertson. Shot-blocker Erin Riordan. Ace rebounder Jennifer Nixon. Those four, and others, have all graduated.

If the Tigers want to play deep into the winter, Kowgios must carry them. But according to coach Tim Pitrulle, they must also receive major contributions from Katherine Sayegh and Samantha Marinucci. Sayegh is a gifted offensive player who missed much of last season due to injuries. She was good enough, however, to play key minutes as a freshman the year before. She had an integral role back then, especially after Kowgios missed the end of the season. As for Marinucci, she was a role player, but must emerge into a starter’s role right away.

Pitrulle said his team won’t have as much experience or shooting, but it should have more size. He has added a 6-foot-2 post player and a handful of guards from the JV, which has won roughly 85 percent of its games the last two seasons.

“They’re still getting used to the intensity of our practices, but there is no lack of skill that is for sure,” Pitrulle said. “We have that solid triangle, a legit 6-footer, a superstar guard and Sayegh, who is an offensive machine. We’re going to be a different team. We’re bigger. We’ll rely less on the “3” and more on our size. And then there’s the B factor. Any team that has (Kowgios) has a shot at doing fairly well.”

Maria ramped up expectations last season and succeeded. Only time will tell how it fares trying to defend its championship. The key will be if it can recapture the intensity that fueled last season. That senior-laden team was simply hungrier and more competitive than its opponents, but that may prove tough to duplicate.

The Tigers have an early test, as they open with Ursuline the day after Thanksgiving in the semis of the tournament at Albertus Magnus.

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Unlike last year, football season is over in Ossining and Dan Ricci is back in the gym full-time. Last year, Ricci embarked on the very tough task of coaching both teams after school during the week, then trying to win a state football championship on the weekends. Ossining fell two wins shy of that goal last year; this year it was nosed by Nyack.

The football team’s loss is the basketball team’s gain. No doubt the girls will benefit from having their coach around because it must overcome the graduation of leaders Brittany Garrett, Kelsey Vallach and Kiki Shelton, who were three key pieces from one of the best teams in Class AA last season.

Garrett and Vallach were an excellent 1-2 punch, but the focus will now shift to Alex Venuto, who can fill it up.

Here are three areas Ossining will focus on from now until the end of the winter:

Run, run, running. As Ricci told me, “I know this doesn’t sound like a news flash, but we will have to run and play pressure defense.” Why? I’ll get to that in a second. But with nine returning players who understand how to play that style and a guard-heavy attack, Ossining will run just like last season. Maybe even more…

Its lack of height. Few players in the section routinely came through on the glass like Garrett, who, despite being about 5-foot-10, averaged double-digit rebounds the last two seasons. Her presence on the glass and in the scoring column will be missed. Ossining can’t really replace her, so it must hope to do so by committee. It will probably be the toughest challenge to face and overcome. “We will need everyone to help out in those departments.”

The backcourt must dominate. Venuto and Hayley Awerdick are potentially one of the best young backcourts in the section. Now they must play like it. Venuto is capable of dropping 25 or 30 points in any given game, and Awerdick has some of the same moxie that drove her sister to be one of the area’s best point guards in the last decade. Ossining’s fate will begin and end with the two juniors and their ability to grow into stars.

Ossining has a quick trip through most of its league early, with games at Peekskill, home to Poughkeepsie, home to Beacon, at Lourdes and at Panas between Dec. 2 and 16. It may not have time to ease in, and remember…in addition to Beacon and Lourdes, Peekskill should be improved and won’t be an easy one to open with.

The next stop in this week’s season-opening journey is in Ursuline. (Yes, technically, it can’t be in Ursuline because Ursuline is not a town, but you get my drift…)

The Koalas were, for all intents and purposes, the second-best team in Class AA last year behind Mount Vernon, but their season was derailed in the quarterfinal when they were upset by 10th-seeded White Plains, a team they swept during the regular season.

Ursuline loses a few key pieces from that team, most notably defensive stopper and sparkplug Tricia Liller and the versatile Rosie Crean. But it also returns four 6-footers, including Quinnipiac-bound Shelby Sferra, and starting point guard Shannon Ray.

I talked to Beth Wooters about her team. “I’m happy with the returners we have coming back,” she said. “We have a good nucleus. On paper that’s how it appears, but it just all matters how we put it together on the court.”

Here’s what you can watch out for:

— The Sferra-Ray tandem should prove troubling for opponents. Sferra, the leading returning scorer and rebounder, was much improved last season. She improved more in the offseason, and is unquestionably one of the better post players in the area. She and Ray for a classic tandem, with Sferra capable of playing with her back to the basket and kicking the ball back out of the post. Ray can both pass and hit the open jumper. These were things they were able to do; now they will do them better.

— Size, size and more size. Ursuline was one of the biggest teams in the area last year. The Koalas return all that size, making it a year older, a year wiser and…a year bigger. … Think about it, how many teams have four 6-footers in their frontcourt rotation like Sferra, Elissa Goldner, Caroline Spillane and Stephanie Gaspari?

— Don’t forget the freshman, new or old. The Koalas had five quality freshmen last year, all of who contributed at least a little. Laura Krey, a versatile and athletic guard, has transferred to Briarcliff (Edited, 11/17), but the other four remain in Spillane, Gaspari, Nicole Robinson and Kelly Tracey. Wooters said all four have improved, and should be ready to make another significant step. Also, it’s early, but you can bet Ursuline will supplement its strong sophomore class with a handful of eager freshmen.

The bottom line is, the Koalas should compete for the gold ball yet again. They will have to replace the leadership and defense of Liller and Jules Biolsi, but expect them to be in the conversation all year.

On Day 1, Wooters was more reserved. “I think we all have a good chance. It’s wide open.”

Ursuline opens the day after Thanksgiving against Maria Regina in the Albertus Magnus tournament. Magnus faces Burke Catholic, with the championship and consolation games over that weekend.

Just had to take a quick step away from the opening week of the season to mention news about Cori Chambers. The Ursuline grad signed with Bnei Yehuda in Israel.

There’s not a lot of information on it. I’ll pass along the info when I come across it.

I’m going to play catch-up with as many coaches/players as I can this week as another long and twisting basketball season starts in earnest. I have a few things to do this evening, but I’ll try and get in touch with people as the night drags on. Check back often…

My first stop is Albertus Magnus, the Class B runner-up from last year. The Falcons lost to eventual state champ Briarcliff at the County Center in one of the most highly anticipated games of the season.

If Magnus returns to White Plains, it won’t be in Class B. The Falcons were moved to Class A this year, and that is one of many reasons why they are one of the most interesting teams to talk about in 2008-09. Here are a few other reasons:

— Alaina Walker, Felicia De La Cruz, Maura Power and Megan Richards return. Magnus must replace key contributors, including seniors Ashley Huber and Lauren Capul. But with the St. Bonaventure-bound Walker, the Falcons have one of the five best players in the section at point guard. They also return the feisty De La Cruz; the outside shooting of Power; and the rebounding and interior scoring of Richards. That’s an excellent returning core. De La Cruz and Richards grew up a lot as freshmen last year and are ready to contribute as starters right away as sophomores.

— Theresa Miller is back. The 6-foot-4 Miller (right) was a JV callup two seasons ago when the Falcons won the Class B title. She was a solid contributor on the glass and her long arms rejected and contested many a shot. But Miller decided not to play last season. Well…she’s back now, adding primo size to Magnus’ front line.

 — They’ve added a key transfer to the backcourt. Namely, another sharp-shooter in sophomore Melissa Place. She transferred from Holy Angels in New Jersey.

Magnus must prove it can overcome the loss of excellent senior leadership and solid defenders, but it may be better on offense. Two early tests will give a good indication: The Falcons face Burke Catholic in next month’s opener, and will travel to Briarcliff for a championship-game rematch on Jan. 6.

Check back later for more…

Porsha Postell has given a verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky. The Woodlands senior, and Section 1’s leading scorer, whittled her list of about 25 schools down to five: Kentucky, Providence, UMass, Boston College and Seton Hall. Kentucky and Providence were the most serious contenders, but Postell cancelled a visit to Providence this week after deciding she wanted to attend Kentucky.

UPDATE, 11:02 p.m.: I talked to Postell and her uncle James Robinson, a Section 1 basketball official who coordinated her recruiting process. Robinson became the go-between, fielding all the phone calls and then meeting with Postell once a week to discuss it.

She went on one official visit three weeks ago to Kentucky during Homecoming. She saw a couple basketball practices and a football game, but she couldn’t get the visit out of her mind. “It kinda stuck with me,” she said.

I’ll have more from Porsha tomorrow. We have a story running in tomorrow’s paper.

UPDATE, 11/6, 2:30 p.m.: The final leg of the story — here’s today’s piece on Postell, which has comments from the Woodlands star and her uncle.