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Haldane, Put Valley set for 1st annual PCN&R Cup hoops game
Blue Devils contribute to Section 1's dominance at States
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Members of the Haldane volleyball team, including Michelle Cotennec, Rachel Flaherty, Danielle Etta, Caitlin McConville and Megan Lyons, were all smiles after winning state volleyball title recently and all were part of Section 1's overall dominance against the rest of NYS this past fall when the section rung up six state title plaques. |
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It's on, gang, so bring it! The first annual Putnam County News & Recorder Hoops Cup will be officially up for grabs on Monday, December 3, 2007 (4:30 pm) at Haldane High, which will play host to Putnam Valley on the basketball court in the hopes of establishing a healthy, long-lasting rivalry between two pretty dang good girl's basketball programs. Each team suffered sectional championship losses on the Westchester County Center hardwood last March, and both programs are in a transitional period for different reasons.
Haldane welcomes in a new coach in Kenny Haskins, who replaces Rich Desiderio after one year on the Blue Devil sideline. In that one year, though, a lot happened. Haldane's 14-year stranglehold on the Section 1 championship came to an end after the Blue Devils suffered a mindboggling 57-39 championship setback to Blind Brook. Some 300 days or so later, Desiderio was notified via email of his dismissal, leaving the recently-hired Haskins very little time to adjust to his new situation.
Not to worry, though: Haskins, a disciple of Peekskill's Hall of Fame Coach Lou Panzanaro, will likely make nice with All-NYS forward Brittany Shields, giving the star carte blanche to carry the load. I'd rather be in Haskins' position than that of Putnam Valley Coach Kelly Thompson, who lost her best returning player (Nicole Scott) to injury and returns virtually nobody from last year's starting lineup that reached the Section 1 Class B championship game for the first time in history.
"We return four points a game from last year," Thompson said. "I've been told we'll have to win with grit and heart. We're up for the challenge."
I wouldn't be surprised if the Tigers are dancing in the Class B quarterfinals this February, but I know for a fact (matter of rhetorical speech) that they're just a year or two away from getting back to the County Center.
The challenge of containing Shields is something that may be beyond Putnam Valley's control, considering she dropped 21.7 PPG and 14.2 RPG last year and should finish her career as Haldane's all-time leading scorer barring an injury.
"You don't shut down a player like Shields, you only hope that the rest of them aren't on," Thompson said during the later stages of Monday's practice while recalling last season's 53-48 loss to the Blue Devils. "Last year we actually did a halfway decent job on her, but it was the rest of them, too. In addition to Shields, they had kids step up."
Those players, Kylie McConville (9 points that night) and Brittney Fleming (16 points) are gone, so the real question surrounding the storied Haldane hoops program is: Whose turn is it to step up now?
Something tells me that after last year's loss to Blind Brook, a healthy Shields will be on a mission this season to restore the luster on Haldane's slightly tarnished championship reputation, but she obviously can't go at it alone. Is it Avery Zuvich's time? Is Liz Milner ready for a prime-time role? Scotti King? Emily Marsh? Who?
Answer: Each and every one. A reputation is at stake and its restoration begins Monday, if it hasn't already. Good luck, Coach Haskins, not that you need it, what with your Peekskill-bred know-how and all.
And speaking of superior reputations, Haldane High sure did its part in reestablishing Section 1's statewide rep as a sports powerhouse. With the passing of a superb varsity fall sports season, we saw Section 1 dominate the sports landscape with six state titles and a slew of runnerup plaques. Let's have a quick look at Section 1's overall dominance against the rest of New York State.
And when I say dominance, I mean complete utter domination.
On the gridiron: We took home one state championship with Class B Rye taking the big prize and Class C Dobbs Ferry settling for second place in Syracuse this weekend. Locally, we had Haldane finish with a startling run that wound up in Kingston on the Dietz Stadium carpet in the Class D state semifinals before concluding, and we saw Putnam Valley snag the first league title in school history.
On the boys soccer pitch: One state champion in Class A Byram Hills and a Class C semifinalists in Blind Brook.
On the girls pitch: We had one state champion in unbeaten Briarcliff and a Class AA semifinalist in Horace Greeley.
On the field hockey green: One state champion in Class B Rye and a Class A finalist in Lakeland. Locally, the Putnam Valley girls reached the Class B sectional championship game for a fifth straight year, only to fall to Rye for the fourth time in five tries.
On the volleyball scene: Section 1 dominated with two state championships delivered by Class A Hendrick Hudson and Class D Haldane, and Westlake reached the Class C state finals.
Overall, Section 1 was outstanding with a state-high six state titles, a distant three state championship plaques ahead of Sections 3, 4 and 5.
Now, we turn the page and ready ourselves for what should be a fantastic basketball campaign for a slew of Section 1 programs; unlike my impoverished NY Knickerbockers, who I'm still holding out hope for. Am I the only one who sees a glimmer of prospect among these transient matadors and this attrition-rich franchise?
Please visit www.yourdirectrays.com to view Section 1 sports photo galleries.
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