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Hoop girls on a mission
By RICHARD
A. ROSS
LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY— In the heat of a summer evening, thoughts
of a mid-winter basketball sectional game at Christl Arena with throngs of
cheering fans, bright lights and swirling media might seem to be light years
away to most people. Most, but not all.
Basketball is very much on the mind of certain young women
intent on ramping up their skills for the coming winter.
Welcome to summer league girls’ basketball where rising stars
feint and dodge, make shots and learn to know their teammates’ every inclination
and move. It’s tough but the dividends are rich. Sweat now: chill later.
Anyone who has watched those sectional playoffs knows without
question that the cream rises to the top. Take Haldane, Section One perennial
State final four contender whose girls make basketball a year-round venture.
Making the State Final Four six out of seven years isn’t a matter of luck.
It’s a matter of intent.
Haldane’s Lady Devils are intense about the game. They play
on American Athletic Union (AAU) teams, work together in summer leagues,
go to basketball camp and schedule games that require playing up, not down,
when it comes to competition. Play better teams: get better.
Last year Roscoe proved how valuable that off-season regimen
could be. It propelled a senior-laden team, centered around Cheyenne Smith,
Rosie Miesner and Christine Rosencranse, to regional play where they ran
into…well, Haldane of course. While Roscoe had three finely tuned, year-round
players, Haldane had five.
Dreams of success are very much on the mind of many of the
girls who are spending their summer nights and days romancing the rock. Next
January and February the results are likely to be manifest.
According to Heather Lander of Sullivan West, “We’re here
to train for the season and to get better. Playing AAU this summer exposed
us to better competition.”
Sullivan West and Livingston Manor combined to form an AAU
team coached by Kevin Clifford, a former assistant to Ron Bernhardt who successfully
guided Jeffersonville-Youngsville teams to many sectional finals. He is now
a physical education teacher at Livingston Manor. The girls from the two
schools got along very well and became friends.
“After the loss to Roscoe in the sectional finals, the girls
had only a month off,” Clifford said.
“We were playing all throughout the spring. The AAU experience
was great. We played a lot of teams made up of mostly Class ‘A’ girls and
got comments on how well we played considering the size of the schools we
represent,” he said.
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TRR photo by Richard A. Ross
Eldred is eager to win. Using their summer league experience,
the Yellowjackets, made up of (not in order shown) Gabby Westfall, Stephanie
Berger, Megan Kean, Roberta Wolff, Jen Guttman, Jen Liebmann, Jenna Fredericks,
Brianna Guerriera, Bryanne Gendron, Kelly Campbell and Lauren Timan hope
to be strong contenders. Frank Kean is the Yellowjackets’ savvy coach.
(Click for larger image)
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That AAU team was comprised of Jennifer Taggart, Ashley Mann,
Carrie Lewis, Charlene Vail, Liz Weickum and Heather Sherwood (all from Livingston
Manor). The Sullivan West team members were Heather Lander, Vanessa Kline,
Katie Capiello, Jessica Lederman, and Jamie Clifford. Bernhardt coached a
younger team that also gained valuable experience. The rest of the Sullivan
West summer league squad includes Nadine McCarthy, Sarah Lander, Madelyn
Argueta, Cassy Busing and Kate Fanning. The team is being coached by Erica
Haray.
Ashley Mann is a junior at Livingston Manor who missed last
season due to a knee injury. She is back in force now.
“I consider basketball to be my favorite sport. I still wear
a knee brace for extra strength, but it feels much stronger now than it did
before,” Mann said. As to the AAU experience, she said, “We played bigger
schools than us and it prepared us better for summer league. We’re building
a team chemistry by playing together here and at camp.” Mann was referring
to the three days from August 1 to August 3 when the Manor girls will be
attending a basketball camp at Siena College.
Eldred’s Lauren Timan loves basketball. “Summer league helps
us to learn where we are on the court. I am improving a lot by playing in
the summer.” Timan plays soccer in the fall, which she likes but considers
the running as a tune-up for basketball.
Livingston Manor senior Jennifer Taggart said of AAU, “It
was a much faster pace. This is the first time that all of us have played
together. We’re getting the feel of what it’s like to play together.”
Taggart hopes the experience takes them back to Christl Arena.
With Roscoe considerably diminished, she figures that Eldred and S.S. Seward
will loom big as competition.
This week, the playoffs for the summer league began on July
24 when top-seed Downsville defeated eighth-seed Liberty, and second-seed
Sullivan West won over seventh-seed Tri-Valley. On July 29, third-seed Manor
duels Fallsburg while Ellenville and Eldred go head to head. The playoffs
will conclude on July 31, the day before the Livingston Manor girls head
off to camp at Siena College.
It takes determination, commitment and passion to be a top-level
basketball player. It’s not a part time job. This summer, these girls are
paying their dues, and this reporter for one can’t wait to see the results
when teams clash on the hardwood come 2004. One last point that must be made
is that an essential part of the whole process is to have fun. As far as
that part goes: mission accomplished.
See more photos here.
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