NCN Girls’ Basketball/Baseball Blog

Rankings as of noon, Tuesday

1) Ossining (9-3) — Ossining takes over the No. 1 spot with convincing wins over Carmel and Hendrick Hudson last week.

Congratulations to Alex Venuto on becoming the second leading scorer in school history. Venuto passed Whitney McDonald and the 1,250-point mark on Jan. 12 against Croton-Harmon

“It couldn’t happen to a better kid,” Ossining Head Coach Dan Ricci said.

The fashion she did it in was even more remarkable. Venuto converted a four-point play, sinking a 3-pointer from the left corner while being fouled. She then converted the free throw.

Venuto had no idea she was close to the milestone, so when they announced her name, she was kind of taken off guard.

“It was really cool,” she said. “My name will be remembered.”

Ricci said that Venuto has done this in four years, while current record holder, Brittany Thomas (1,770 career points) took five years. Hence, Venuto is Ossining’s all time leading scorer for a four year player. Not too shabby.

2) Lakeland (8-1) — This obviously isn’t breaking news, but without Tori Jarosz, Lakeland is just not the same team.

Kristin Pappalardo carried the Hornets on her back in the first half against Carmel last Thursday, but in the second half, they looked lost at times offensively.

“With Tori not on the floor, we need someone else to step up,” Head Coach Steve Fallo said.

But still, Lakeland only trailed by three points midway through the fourth quarter against a top Class AA squad in Carmel, which is a “moral victory” in my book, considering they were without their best player.

“It just showed what type of team we’re made of,” Fallo said. “When we want to get to physical, dive for loose balls, and hustle all over the court, we’re a good basketball team. Tori makes us a very good basketball team.”

I’ll top that. Jarosz makes them a nearly unbeatable basketball team.

Thankfully for Lakeland, Jarosz makes her return on Jan. 22 against rival Walter Panas. I’m sure the Hornets are counting down the days.

3) Carmel (9-3) — At times, Carmel looks like it has the potential to be a Class AA contender. But at other times, they look like they can’t get out of their own way.

Against Ossining, Carmel struggled in the first half. They allowed too many offensive rebounds and either turned the ball over against Ossining’s swarming press, or just couldn’t seem to finish.

“I thought that we ran well against them, we just couldn’t convert,” Carmel Head Coach Dan O’Hare said. “We got the ball in the open court, but we either charged or we walked. It was just that we didn’t finish.”

Outside of the solid trio of junior forward Brittany Horne and senior guards Kim Broccoli and Marie Mullen, the Rams have three very promising sophomores in Sabrina Diaz, Alyssa D’Apice and Nicole Oliver.

Diaz is probably the teams only true point guard according to O’Hare and she distributes the ball very well. Both Diaz and D’Apice were crucial during second-half runs in the win over Lakeland last Thursday.

Oliver does the dirty work inside. O’Hare said she’s the most improved player on the team.

“She gets better with every practice,” he said. “She’s becoming solid, she’s not fancy.”

4) Briarcliff (10-2) — The way Briarcliff started out, I thought they were going to run Brewster off the court last Monday.

But as good as things looked early on, they took a turn for the worst in the fourth quarter. Briarcliff suffered a complete meltdown.

The Bears’ strength is utilizing their athleticism and getting out on the fast break. They’re quicker than most teams and have plenty of experience together. Savina and Brianna Reid, and Kasey Heyda can finish with the best of them. Katie Weiner gets the ball up the court quickly with a smooth pass or can throw the home-run pass for an easy layup.

“When we rebound the ball and get steals, we can run,” Head Coach Don Hamlin said. “In the third and fourth quarter (against Brewster), we weren’t rebounding the ball, we were giving up second and third shots. We couldn’t get out and run.”

Mark my words, the Bears will use this loss as motivation and only get better. They’ll be able to test themselves again against another Class A contender in Pearl River on Jan. 29. I don’t see a repeat fourth-quarter performance happening.

5A) Kennedy (10-3) — I have to give Kennedy some love with the huge win over Class AA Scarsdale. The Gaels have also won nine out of their last 10 games. Also, considering they beat Peekskill, they get the nod for the 5A spot.

The Gaels may not win in the prettiest of fashions, but they sure get the job done. Kennedy utilizes its superior size to just wear opponents down.

With five players towering at 5-foot-9 and up, Kennedy is hands down the biggest team in Class B. The Gaels, who haven’t allowed more than 49 points in a game, engulf opposing offenses with their superior size. Their giant front line is composed of Lauren Foti (5-9), Lauren Tracy (5-10), Shayna Gaskin (5-10), Molly Brennan (5-11) and Allison Santini (6-0).

Head Coach Al Morales said Santini is his most athletic big. While Tracy and Brennan may not be the most fleet of foot, the Gaels help defense makes up for that deficiency.

Kennedy has a chance of attaining a top four seed in sectionals, which could help them avoid an elite team like Nanuet, Irvington or Briarcliff before the County Center.

“I would like to say so,” Morales said of their chances of getting a top four seed in sectionals. “I’m not really looking that far right now only because we’ve still got to take care of the league.”

5B) Peekskill (12-1) — Peekskill posted solid wins over Class AA’s Monroe Woodbury and Hendrick Hudson last week. Asia Jackson scored 18 points in both games.

“Asia is always going to be what she is,” Head Coach Rodney Headley Jr. said. “A menace on the ball and a menace in the passing lanes.”

Jackson will have to be all of that and more, as a true test awaits on Jan. 20 against Class AA powerhouse Ossining. Can the Red Devils handle the pressure?

Knocking on the door: I saw Hendrick Hudson (9-3) for the first time last week against Ossining, and they’re a solid, scrappy squad with plenty of potential. But can they contend with the upper-echelon programs? Walter Panas (6-3) has quietly turned in a solid season and faces a big test on Jan. 22 against rival Lakeland.