Breaking Through
A Parent’s Perspective On A Team’s Noble Battle Overcoming Adversity To Achieve New Levels Of Success Both On And Off The Court
By SHANNON JACKSON-DANIELS
Editor’s Note: Though basketball season is now over and spring sports loom large on the horizon, the story of one team’s determination to surmount daunting obstacles and prior years’ struggles to win over the hearts and minds of their community is a compelling one that has no definitive timeline or shelf life. To accomplish this turnaround required the patience and commitment of a coach who would accept nothing less than her players’ best effort, coupled with the team’s willingness to do whatever it took to become successful.
The Monticello Lady Panthers overcame great adversity to not just make it to sectionals after years of drought, but to advance to the Class A semifinals.
MONTICELLO, NY– It was almost as if the Monticello girls’ team took a page out of the New York Giants’ book. Everyone doubted that the Lady Panthers would have a winning season much less make it to sectionals. But successful teams persevere through adversity. The Giants would not just make it to the playoffs, they won the Superbowl. And as for the Monticello Lady Panthers, they marshaled their will and desire to to not just make the playoffs for the first time in seven years, but to go on and win their first game.
Just as the city rallied around the Giants, the Monticello community rallied around the Lady Panthers. This year had been a tough outing for the coach and her team. Yet even with all of the struggles the team had encountered, they still managed to stay focused and work hard with a unanimity of purpose and a goal of making it to sectionals. As the regular season came down to the wire, the final matchup between Monticello and Goshen would prove to be a nail biter that would determine if the Lady Panthers would achieve their goal of entering the recently unchartered territory of postseason play.
The hard-fought battle with the Lady Gladiators would go into overtime before Monticello finally prevailed. Coming down the stretch Monticello founds itself mired in foul trouble and had just four players on the court for about 20 seconds. But in the end the Lady Panthers went home with the win by the final score of 74-66.
This particular game was Monticello’s team high in terms of points scored during this season. And by winning, Monticello clinched a spot in the sectionals bracket. Once, the sectional seedings were determined, ironically the Lady Panthers discovered that they would have to face Goshen yet again..
Going into this sectional game, both teams were thirsty for the win, not just to snap the season tie-breaker, but more importantly to earn the right to advance. Come sectionals, no team wants to reckon with the prospect of its season coming to an untimely end. From the start of warm-ups, it was apparent that both teams brought their greatest intensity. As the buzzer sounded at the conclusion of warm-ups, , the visiting Lady Gladiators’ starting line-up was announced..The visiting Lady Gladiators began to chant loudly in unison with the fervent crowd that had traveled to support them. After the Lady Panthers’ starting line-up was called, the Monties formed a circle and begin their team pre-game hype up chant as you could feel the intensity rise in the Pit as the anticipation of the crowd built to a crescendo.
This particular night was as if it was “Written in the Stars” (Tinie Tempah ft Eric Turner). Speaking to Coach Karen Atack the day before the game, I asked her how she felt about facing Goshen in the sectionals. To which she replied, “I have a good feeling” Her premonition would prove to be right.
The Feb 28 sectional game between the Monticello Lady Panthers and the Goshen Lady Gladiators was literally a down- to- the-wire re-match. The game outcome was not decided until the final minute. In the end, the Lady Panthers came out on top 48-42.
That final minute was tense to say the least. Goshen’s Ahxia Stanton made a bucket with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter to even the game at 42-42. The Goshen crowd roared their approval. Then Monticello’s Quasia Walker answered back with a jump shot in the lane 12 seconds later to give the Lady Panthers a 44-42 lead.
With 28 seconds left Sha’mira Moore drove the ball to the hoop and scored extending the lead to 46-42. In the final seconds, Yami Reyes and her teammate Moore each made a free throw to seal the game for Monticello. After the win, Atack said “I’ll take it.”
Goshen had led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. At halftime the game was tied 21-21. At the end of the third quarter, Monticello held a 35-31 advantage.
The Lady Panthers’ offense was led by Reyes who had a team-high 17 points, while Moore recorded a double-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds and five steals. Zequia Revell, Monticello’s only senior added nine points, 13 rebounds and five steals. Lena Episalla had four steals. Additionally,
\The victory came despite late season adversity that had seen the Lady Panthers reckon with the loss of Junior Arianna Da Costa who had emergency surgery on Feb 14. DaCosta had just received medical clearance to play and this was her first game back.
In addition, Amanda Grobusch was injured in practice Monday afternoon and had gone to the hospital to be examined. Grobusch received medical clearance hours prior to tip-off of the quarterfinal game.
“She had never played basketball before this season,” She is this season’s most improved player. The difference in her game is like night and day,” noted Atack. Despite the uncertainly surrounding the viability of key players, the Lady Panthers qualified for sectionals, something they had not done since 2005-2006. “I am proud of these ladies,” coach Atack said.” They never gave up. They grew closer as a team and worked hard.”
As a parent who has had an opportunity to observe this team frequently and under a variety of circumstances I have developed a sound respect for coach Atack, most importantly, for her passion for the game, her tough coaching style, and her insistence on a strong and consistent work ethic throughout the season.
Da Costa and Moore of reflected on what they felt were the most intense moments of the game, Da Costa replied, “Emma Weiss hitting a three pointer, with a little more than two minutes left in the game. She was the player that I was defending and I obviously gave her an open shot.” Moore added, “When I passed the ball to Yami Reyes and the ball slipped through her hand it appeared to be a turnover but the official said that it was last touched by Goshen.”
Both Da Costa and Moore expressed frustration with the amount of times that their team had turned the ball over in the fourth quarter. In response to how they felt about making it to sectionals and most importantly, winning the first game,
Da Costa added, “Making it to sectionals shows that hard work pays off. We’ve wanted this so bad, for so long. Sad, but true, people have doubted us through the years and it feels good to finally prove them wrong. Through, everything that the team has been through this year, going to sectionals was a great accomplishment.”
Da Costa also passionately dedicated this season to coach Atack for “having shown great patience and turning the Lady Panthers into a better team this year.” Moore’s noted that Atack pushed them and believed in them as a team. “She always mentioned two words that she feels are important, to us as a team and they are to trust and believe. We knew that once we had internalized those key aspects, that we would be successful.” Moore also dedicated the season to the coach as well.
Moore was named All Section from Class A schools for girls basketball. She led the Lady Panthers to the Section IX semifinals this year.
My goal in writing this narrative is to make our community aware of the great accomplishments rendered by the Monticello Girls Varsity Basketball Team as they overcame the loss of three key players for various circumstances.
It is also impressive to note that seven players from the team made either High Honor Roll or Principal’s List for the Second Marking Period. In order for, a student to have made High Honor Roll he/she must maintain a grade point average of 90-94.99 and for Principal’s List a student must have an average of 95-100. I am proud to say that Monticello has been named to the NYSPHAA Scholar Athlete team with an average of a 94.
To maintain such a fine academic record while devoting so much time to a varsity sport requires perseverance, time management skills and the relentless pursuit of excellence. As the famous UCLA Coach John Wooden once noted, “Success is being the best you are capable of becoming.” By that standard, the 2011-12 Monticello Lady Panthers were a resounding success story.
The entire team’s warranted a great commitment that began with the rigors of the school day and continued on into practice which ended at 4:30 PM and on game days meant arriving home late to negotiate the pressing needs of homework and other responsibilities.
As a parent of a daughter who is in her third season of playing for Coach Atack, I can attest that she does everything in her power to take advantage of Study Hall time during the school day to get as much work done as she can before the game. I have not seen get to bed before 12:00 AM on a night of a game.
Coach Atack is a seasoned veteran and a caring mentor. Unquestionably she is very tough on the girls and cuts them no slack as exemplified by her rule for practice, “If you are early, you are on time, if you are on time, you are late, and if you are late, do not bother showing up.”
From a former athlete’s perspective, I truly admire coach Atack’s passion for basketball and the fact that she spends time in the beginning of practice pointing out each player’s strength/weakness in the game and always asks each player what she believes she can do to improve for the next game. It has been very rewarding to watch the team grow and evolve over the past few seasons to achieve the kind of success they experienced this year.
The Lady Panthers’ fine season that began with an inspiring 4-0 run, had its struggles during the middle of the season with several tough losses, and then finished its regular season stretch run with an inspiring effort to clinch a spot in the Sectionals after nearly seven years. This was made sweeter still, by winning the quarterfinal match up against Goshen to advance to the Semifinal game on March 1 against Number-One seeded Cornwall
As it would turn out, Cornwall proved to be a bit too much for Monticello ending its season . The Lady Panthers should be very proud of their accomplishments, for holding it together individually and excelling academically, I urge them to retain that pride, work on their skills and conditioning in the intervening seasons in order to evince and even more outstanding performance next winter. I look forward to that with great felicity.
Fast Start
Monticello Downs Short-Handed Liberty For Third Straight Win In Young Season; Lady Indians Come Alive In Fourth Quarter On A Night When Indians’ Shots Just Wouldn’t Fall
Monticello 46, Liberty 23
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Scenes from Monticello's 46-23 non-league win over Liberty (clockwise): Monticello freshman Lena Episalla goes up for a shot and is fouled. She had nine rebounds in the game. Liberty's Tea Williams is hemmed in by Monticello's Shamira Moore and Zaquia Revell. Revell had ten steals and Moore had seven. Liberty's Justice Dingevan fires up a three-pointer. She canned two of them in the final quarter. She is defended by Monticello's Lena Episalla. Liberty's Olivia Baum scores the first points for the Lady Indians midway through the second quarter. Baum ended up with a team-high 17 on the night. The 2011-12 Monticello Lady Panthers. Monticello junior Yadira Montes cans a free throw. The Monties need a lot of work from the line as they converted just 31.8 percent from the stripe.
MONTICELLO, NY—When it comes to school size, Monticello and Liberty are the bigs in Sullivan County. As such, their encounters with one another, though always of a non-league variety, have a special allure even if one or both teams is struggling as has been the case in recent years.
But it’s a new season now and the Lady Panthers as well as the Lady Indians are fielding teams that are a blend of experienced players along with a cadre of youngsters who are new to the varsity realm.
Coming into the Pit in Monticello is always a challenge for Liberty teams but on this December 13 night, Coach Beth Quatrale knew it would be even more daunting without three of her key starters in NIkole Snyder, Selena Vargas and Katie Giarratano all missing in action for a variety of reasons. That would leave veterans Olivia Baum and Justice Dingevan to carry the load and as it turned out, they would be the only two players to score on the night as Baum would post 17 to Dingevan’s pair of treys.
Liberty struggled mightily early on as it went scoreless throughout the first quarter and halfway through the second when Baum finally converted a steal into a layup. She’d go on to score two more buckets in the second stanza to provide Liberty with six points by halftime to Monticellos’s 23. The Lady Panthers led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Four of those first quarter points came from junior standout Shamira Moore. The Lady Monties also got buckets from junior Arianna Decosta and freshman Yamilersy Reyes. Moore added a pair of free throws in the second quarter as part of Monticello’s seven-point output. Senior Zequia Revell posted her lone basket and Monticello benefited from two free throws from Yadira Montes and one from Yami Reyes.
Both teams had trouble converting shots as well as taking care of the basketball. Turnovers abounded as errant passes were picked off both ways giving both Quatrale and Monticello Coach Karen Atack plenty to concentrate on in upcoming practices.
Moore was the big difference in this game as she evinced outstanding play at both ends of the floor. In the third quarter she netted 14 points. Her only issue was her lackluster free throw shooting as she canned only two-for-11 from the stripe. To their credit, Liberty held her scoreless in the final frame.
Decosta was Monticello’s other major weapon. She scored 11 points on the night, seven of which came in the fourth quarter and included the Monties’ lone trey of the game.
As for Liberty, were it not for Baum’s relentless pursuit, even in the face of early struggles, the final outcome could have been far worse. Monticello’s fourth quarter defensive laxity that featured players out of positions and at times an uncontested path to the basket for Baum, allowed her to catch fire. Needless to say, Atack was not pleased with that aspect of the game.
Monticello improved to 3-0 adding this victory to a pair of commanding wins over struggling Family. The Lady Monties will test their early season mettle against winless Sullivan West on the Lady Bulldogs home court debut on December 14. Sullivan West scouted this game to get a preview of the Lady Monties and of course Division IV rival Liberty which fell to 1-2. Its lone win came against S.S. Seward in the Spartan Invitational Tournament. They lost the title game to Goshen.
Quatrale was upbeat about her team’s efforts despite the outcome. “I thought the biggest difference was that my team was playing relaxed in the fourth quarter. It’s tough when the ball won’t go in the basket, but if you force it, it still won’t go in. As I told my team, I can’t be upset with a game like that when I know that every girl on the court was giving 100 percent. The heart was there, the ball just wasn’t falling.
Liberty hosts Port Jervis for its home opener on December 15. It’s next game will come after the New Year. With three starters not here tonight, it gave younger girls a chance to step up and show that they really deserve to be on the court. There were few mental mistakes. We were where we were supposed to be. It’s just a case of putting the ball in the basket now,” she concluded.
Atack is certainly pleased with her team’s 3-0 start. “We’ll take it,’ she said while emphasizing the things that need a lot of work if the success is to continue against far tougher teams. The Lady Monties host Cornwall on December 16 and the type of play they evinced in this game won’t fly against the Lady Dragons.
“We realize we played a weakened team tonight,” said Atack referencing the fact that Liberty was missing key players. “If we don’t take care of the ball we know what is going to happen. We still have a lot of things we have to iron out. We have a young team. They’re willing to work and they never give up. The hustle is there but we just made a lot of errors.
Rebounding was not one of the problems. Moore led the team with 17 boards and Revell had 12. Freshman guard Lena Episalla had nine rebounds. Revell had 10 steals and Moore had seven.” Atack credited Moore and Revell with playing an excellent game.
“We need to have better leadership. If I don’t call it out, no one is presently calling it out on the court. We have a lot more talent than we’ve had in the recent past but it’s not tamed yet,” she noted. “We’re having a problem with getting five people to do what they’re supposed to do at the same time.
Monticello’s three win start constitutes half of its total season victory total from last year. But Atack, ever conscious of what it takes to win against tough opponents will not let her team sit back on their early season laurels. For one thing Monticello was a woeful seven-for 22 from the line (31.8%).
“We have a really young team,” added Atack who was missing junior tall tree Nyasia Blakney for this outing. With only one senior in Revell, the squad goes to war with five juniors in Decosta, Moore, Yadira Montes, Blakney and Amber Grobusch. Three sophomores include Quasia Walker, Latise Sanders and Deanna Snowden, along with freshmen Shandell Jones, Yami Reyes and Lena Episalla.
Liberty’s team on this night was comprised of Rachel Bayer, Zaira Pabon, Erin Kinne, Cindy Fuentes, Stephanie Heisler, Olivia Baum, Amanda Bertholf, Justice Dingevan, Kelly Santos, Brittany Roa and Tea Williams.
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