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Standard-bearers Set Milestones, Show Way at Haldane, Putnam Valley
Shields, Pastena blazing trails of excellence
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Haldane Brittany Shields with her dad after reaching 1,000 points, one of many milestones sure to be reached by this brilliant junior. |
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At this point in time, folks in and around the Haldane and Putnam Valley School Districts are blessed to be among more than a couple of standard-bearing varsity athletes. Standard-bearing athletes are those rare breeds coaches like to build successful athletic programs around, those who others will measure themselves against over time, those who make others around them better. Today, we focus on two.
Putnam Valley senior Alex Pastena, despite a slightly separated shoulder, chalked up the 100th victory of his five-year wrestling career, making him the first in Tiger history to reach the 100-win milestone, making him the standard-bearing wrestler in Putnam Valley's Class B wrestling program.
And Haldane's Brittany Shields; if she isn't the best girl's basketball player in Section 1 these days, she's a close second, according to her Coach Rich Desiderio.
"If Brittany Shields isn't the best player in the section, someone is going to have to prove to me who is," the Blue Devil coach said after Shields led state-ranked (No.4) Haldane to their ninth win in 10 tries this past week while remaining on course for a run at the school's fifth NYSPHSAA basketball title (first since 2000 and first in Class C) in school history. "She has raised her game, both offensively and defensively. She was embarrassed by how she played defensively against Blind Brook (in a 68-54 win). Here is a kid that scored 37 points and had 18 rebounds, and all she could talk about was how bad she played defensively. That is why she is special."
 | | Put Valley wrestler Alex Pastena |
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That, and the countless other things she does and on off the court to make "Shieldsy," as her appreciative teammates call her, all the better. At the varsity prep level, Shields can dominate a game like few players in New York State can, making those around her better while putting up 24.7 PPG. Shields, a guard/forward swingman, is unselfish enough to know when to force a play and when to dish off to open teammates like Brittany Fleming, who dropped 17 points, including five 3-bombs in the team's most recent 54- 50 win over Class B power Rye.
At the next level, some college coaches are concerned that the 5'9" Shields may be a "Tweener"; not quick enough for guard play defensively, not tall enough to play the 4-forward and not quite proficient enough from the outside to play the 3. However, sagacious scouts should detect a player that can do a little bit of everything well enough to be an essential part of a top-flight Division 1 program. She's just scratching the surface of a career that has already far exceeded the 1,000-point plateau by dominating the paint. By the time this high school junior reaches optimal levels in every facet during her senior campaign, she'll likely turn those skeptics into believers by finishing as one of just a handful of 2,000 point scorers in Section 1 girl's basketball history.
Just to be timely, the Haldane Athletic Department should expect to order its first 2,000-point banner sometime during the middle of the 2008-09 campaign; because it would take the Hoover Dam to slow the flow of Miss Brittany Shields. Yeah, she'll get the 2- grand before the conclusion of her fabled high school career, and she'll set some D-I program straight.
"She is that rare superstar that just wants to be one of the girls," Desiderio said. "She is that rare superstar that does whatever you ask her to do for the good of the team. She is starting to look for shots all over the court, and that is why she is leading the section in scoring and her scoring average is up seven points a game from last year. I am blessed to be able to coach such a special kid."
Just like PV Coach Carano is blessed to have an athlete like Pastena, an honor roll student, in his stable. As a 112 pound sophomore, Pastena dropped a 7-3 decision against Pleasantville's Michael Esteves in the small-school final before securing All-Section honors in the winter of 2006 with another appearance in the 125-pound sectional finals. He opened the 2006-07 season as the No.1-ranked 125-pounder, and, should health be in his favor, Carano is planning a maximal going-away party for his senior year.
"He has, without question, set the standard and created a model of excellence that I hope every young athlete in the program strives to accomplish in their own unique way," Carano stated after Pastena locked up the milestone triumph at the Putnam Valley Dual Meet Wrestling Tournament last Saturday, where Carano brought in tough programs like Long Island powers Chaminade and Half Hollow Hills and scrappy locals like Somers to test the mettle of his boys, who are built for tournaments rather than dual meets this season.
Off the mat, Pastena is a relatively quiet, reserved and unassuming kid, but the fire within his belly sparks once he takes the mat. "He's got that fire, and he's competitive," said Carano. "He is far and away the most consistent and dominating athlete this wrestling program has seen. And this is a critical point because the young guys watching Alex take the same approach in practice and in matches. He trains to get better and he wrestles to win every time."
Nowadays, many young athletes tend to focus more on the pressures of competing, rather than the pleasures of competing, which often turns a group of otherwise confident young men into a group of "Nervous Nellies". Pastena has developed into the kind of leader that helps guard against that by taking younger wrestlers under his wing.
"I think Alex was the first athlete I've had that has fully matured into this kind of mindset and it has made him much, much better," said Carano. "It has been a pretty amazing journey to see Alex mature from this tough, scrappy eighth grader, into this very technical, mentally and physically strong senior wrestler he is now. I'm very proud of his 100 wins and I never really had any doubts that he would ultimately reach this milestone. Having a guy like Alex in the wrestling room and out on the mat, day after day, match after match really helps these young guys see what it means to really compete."
Pastena's commitment to excellence does not end on the wrestling mats; for not only has he compiled 100 wins and been a twotime section one finalist, but he's also a model honor roll student. His GPA is 93.52 and he went and scored a 1350 on his SATs.
"It's really hard to imagine not having him in the room next year," said Carano. "I'll miss him, but for me that is far offset by my excitement to see him reach a whole other level of maturity and success in college. In my opinion, the sky is the limit for Alex Pastena."
Same goes for Shields. And why put a cap on that? For more Section 1 sports photos, including Haldane & Putnam Valley sports, visit the galleries at www.yourdirectrays.com
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