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Haldane, Put Val Girls BB Teams Headed in Right Direction
Tigers upset North Rockland for tourney title; local hoops roundup
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Haldane’s Kylie McConville drives the lane at a recent match against Dobbs Ferry |
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With the first third of the Section 1 basketball season behind them, the youth of the Haldane and Putnam Valley school districts have seen their fair share of ups and downs on the boy’s and girl’s hardwood scene. The girls have shined while the boys have had, for the most part, a bumpy ride to open the 2006-07 campaign.
Coach Rich Desiderio’s Haldane Lady Blue Devils (5-1) have had the most highs, opening the season as one would expect a reigning 14-time Section 1 champion to do. The state-ranked (No.5) Blue Devils are getting the kind of contribution they expected from All-NYS forward Brittany Shields, who has dropped 23.7 PPG and 16.8 RPG in addition to scoring the 1,000th point of her storied career in the first game of the season. The scary thing about Shields, according to the coach, is that she has barely scratched the surface of how good she can be. Brittany Fleming (10.3 PPG) and Kylie McConville (9.7 PPG) have chipped in nicely, but the coach needs to see more consistency from his complimentary players if the Blue Devils are going to be serious players for the Class C crown this March. The lone blemish on Haldane’s record stems from its first big test this season, a 52-51 setback to Class AA Ossining in the finals of the Croton-Harmon tournament.
“The girls are starting to get it and though we are not firing on all cylinders yet we are getting there,” Coach Desiderio said. “Our biggest problem has been our defense but it is getting better. Over the break we worked extremely hard and my girls deserve a lot of credit. Everyone knows about Shields, but Kylie McConville and Brittney Fleming have been scoring and will only get better on both ends of the floor. Kylie has played great defense on everyone she has defended which is usually the other team’s best player. Shields has really started to defend a lot better and I am extremely pleased with her progress on both ends of the floor. I can’t tell you how far we are going to go but I can promise you that we will do what all of my teams have always done and that is we will work hard we will defend.”
Still, without having shown its A-game to this point, things are looking up for the Lady Blue Devils, who would consider any season without a sectional championship a lost cause. The Blue Devils went into the break with a 53-48 victory over Putnam Valley.
But the PV Tigers didn’t let that loss get them down. The team has caught fire after Christmas and had one of its biggest victories in the history of its program. The Tigers (4-5) stole the show and the tournament title at North Rockland, taking out the host Red Raiders in overtime, 60-57, in the opening round before routing Cardinal Spellman, 53-44, in the clincher behind Christine Kemp’s career-high 26 points. Tiger forward Kim Kastuk added 19 points. Kastuk drilled 24 points (on 10-of-14 shooting), made five steals and hauled in eight boards in the win over North Rockland, which ranks among the finest Class AA girl’s basketball programs in Section 1 history. Kemp knocked down 18 and dished seven assists. Nicole Scott, a freshman, added seven points, seven boards and five steals.
“North Rockland is considered to be one of the top four Class AA schools in girl’s basketball,” PV Coach Kelly Thompson said. “In one week, they lost to White Plains by four points, they beat Scarsdale by 12 and Lourdes by 20, and those are thought to be the other ones heading for the County Center.”
So how did little Putnam Valley defeat the Rockland County juggernaut? It was a combination of things, among them; North Rockland looking past the Tigers.
“When we were watching the other first round game, the North Rockland coach said something about how we should do well against Washingtonville,” said Thompson.
In other words, the Red Raiders coach was expecting to see the Tigers in the consolation game. “I told the kids that North Rockland thought they already had the game won,” Thompson stated. “We went out and played our best game of the year.”
Jylan Mayo, one of just seven Tigers to make the trip across the Hudson, added nine points and 11 boards.
“The defense was solid and the kids just kept scrapping,” Coach Thompson said. “We only had seven players for this game available and Kemp, Kastuk, and Nicole Scott each played all 36 minutes of regulation and overtime.”
Kemp drove for the tying basket with four seconds left in regulation and the Tigers went ahead in overtime before hitting 4-of- 6 from the line down the stretch.
“These kids do not quit and were definitely up for the challenge,” Thomspon said. “We were pretty excited after the game, but we had to come back and get ready to play again the next night against Cardinal Spellman from the Bronx.”
This time, the undermanned Tigers had only six players available due to family commitments. They got the lead up to 17 points at one point in the third quarter before holding on for dear life. “We were definitely running out of gas,” Thompson stated. “Our legs were gone and the shots were becoming ugly and the defense was struggling, but we gutted it out and held on.”
Spellman cut the lead to two points before Kemp hit from downtown. Kemp had a huge night, going 6-for-8 from behind the arc, finishing with a career-high 26.
“It was a great week for us and hopefully gives us momentum heading into the league schedule which starts Wednesday in Pleasantville,” Thompson said.
For Haldane boys Coach Joe Virgadamo and the struggling Haldane Blue Devils (2-6), the Dutchess County Coaches Boys Basketball Tournament did not go as expected. Having suffered a 60-51 setback to Spackenkill in the small-school tournament, the Blue Devils have began the season with an uphill battle ahead of them if they plan on qualifying for the Section 1 Class C playoffs later this winter. Nick Torchia led Haldane with 13 points against Spackenkill while Billy Campbell dropped a dozen and Nick Thorpe added 11 points. Nick Nastasi had 10 points.
Putnam Valley (2-6) faces a similar battle in Class B, having lost six of its first eight games, but the Tigers should sense a silver lining. Playing without leading scorer Vinny DeCosta (hand injury), the Tigers have wins over a pair of Class A schools, including Somers and Hendrick Hudson.
Without the sharp-shooting DeCosta in the lineup, the emergence of forward Nicky Ivezic has been noticeable. The 6’2" senior has run the floor effectively, dropping 12.9 PPG. Meanwhile, 6’1" junior Hugh O’Gorman has picked up his game, hitting for 9.1 PPG. PV could have folded up the tent early this season, without DeCosta to run the show, but the Tigers have reached the finals of the Ardsley and Hen Hud tournaments with well-played opening-round games, according to Coach Ralph Smith. The coach is hoping his club can turn things around and win enough games to reach the Class B tournament for the first time in the history of the six-year program. The imminent return of DeCosta after the holiday break should spark the offense in time for league play.
For more Haldane girl’s basketball photos taken by Ray Gallagher, visit his websites at www.printroom.com/pro/yourdirectrays or www.yourdirectrays.com.
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