Liberty Independent – Yami Reyes

Fourth Term

Livingston Manor Captures Its Fourth Consecutive Benny Chesnick Tournament Title With Wins Over Monticello and Tri-Valley; Two-Time Defending State Champs Look Strong In Post-Diescher Era As Effective Pitching, Timely Hitting and Fielding Combine To Marshal Early Season Victories; Monties Beat T-V In Opener Of Annual SCSO Tourney Renamed For Dearly Departed Umpire; Sullivan West Sweeps Family In Liberty To Earn Share Of Tourney Title.

Monticello 11, Tri-Valley 6

Livingston Manor 10, Monticello 7

Livingston Manor 25, Tri-Valley 5

Sullivan West 15, Family 0

Sullivan West 7, Family 0

By RICHARD A. ROSS

rross@sportsinsightsny.com

Photos at: www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com

Scenes from the Benny Chesnick Memorial Softball Tournament Officiated by the Sullivan County Softball Officials (Clockwise): Monticello senior hurler Sam Cohn, Livingston Manor junior Samantha Scott, Monticello senior Emily Morey smacks a three run homer vs. Tri-Valley, Samantha Scott blasts a triple in the first inning vs. Monticello. Tri-Valley sophomore Emily DiToro gets the start in game one. The late Benny Chesnick, Sullivan West ace Hannah Schwatz, Sullivan West's Bethanii Padu lays down a bunt versus Family, Monticello senior Becca Wood fires a strike versus the Lady Bears.

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—When it comes to annual events like the Benny Chesnick Memorial Softball Tournament, it is natural to hearken back to prior years in the context of trying to frame the current year’s proceedings.

Things do change from year to year but lately in terms of the Sullivan County Softball Official’s tournament which was renamed a few years back for the late Benny Chesnick, that iconic umpire who spent the lion share of his 80 year tenure on this earth behind the plate, it seems as if at least one thing has remained the same.

And that would be the dominance of Livingston Manor which with this year’s sweep of Monticello (last year’s co-champion by dint of its two wins versus Liberty) and host Tri-Valley, afforded the Lady Wildcats and their coaches Kevin Clifford and Charlie Hicks a chance to pose with the tournament trophy for the fourth consecutive year.

So what was different this year? Well for one thing the sky was bright blue and the weather balmy as opposed to last year’s chilly drizzle. But more importantly, the two-time defending Class D state champs were entering this tournament without the services of Marissa Diescher who is now hurling for Penn State.

Diescher’s high school legacy brought a state record 27 no hitters, 1,345 strike outs for fourth best in state history and last year’s stingy 0.14 ERA. Pitchers of that caliber come along once in a blue moon so for Manor, a new way of winning will have to evolve if the Lady Wildcats are to continue their storied success.

That said, when it comes to softball, pitching is still the name of the game. With her graduation, Diescher turned the ball over to Samantha Scott who was 3-0 in her three starts a year ago with an ERA of 1.65. Scott, a highly competitive junior is clearly enjoying her role as Manor’s number one starter.

She showed her mettle against Monticello by garnering the win and lacing four hits. She’d go on to score four runs in the second game. Her first at bat of the day evinced a booming triple and her second time up she blasted a three-run double.

As I was on call to emcee my 25^th consecutive year at the Hortonville Talent Show, I had to leave the game after the third inning so how the game evolved from the 5-0 LM lead to the eventual 10-7 Lady Wildcats win will remain a mystery to me until someone fills in the gaps. (Facebook friends feel free to message me with your version!). Needless to say I wasn’t there for the Lady Wildcats second game wherein Manor eighth grader Kaitlin Rau got a win in her mound debut in the 25-5 landslide victory over the Lady Bears.

I was however present for the tourney opener as Tri-Valley hosted Monticello. But prior to running through the details of that first encounter, it is apropos to offer some words about the tournament itself and though I am not usually given to quoting my own prior writing of sporting events, I do make exceptions when I feel that what I’ve said before remains timely and thoughtful. So with that in mind I am paraphrasing from last year’s article on this tournament , entitled “Wonders Never Cease.”

That piece reiterated an elegy to the man for whom the Sullivan County Softball Officials decided to name their longstanding tournament. The event which is held each spring serves as a training ground for their newest officials to better learn the ropes in overseeing the games.

Umpiring is an art form unto itself and no one in local history was more of an artisan of the craft than Benny Chesnick. I often think about him as I sometimes find myself standing under the blazing sun in the sweltering heat. I used to marvel at his ability to stand in behind that plate for hours on end and never utter a word of complaint. He did that right up to the ripe age of 80.

Chesnick was a beloved icon and an embodiment of Americana itself. Starting out at age ten playing baseball, seventy years later he was still around the plate. For 45 years he umpired games, an arbiter of calls and strikes, an unwavering local ambassador of America’s pastime. I felt privileged to make his acquaintance, to listen to him recall iconic moments from that storehouse of memories he had from so many years around the game.

Benny’s life wasn’t an easy one. But he had his love of umpiring , and to him that was both a blessing and a raison d’ ètre (French for a reason to be).

Chesnick is gone now, but the game he embraced so reverently goes forward each year with new ranks of players to follow behind the legions who have gone before them. Chesnick would have smiled broadly to see such an array of talent, enthusiasm and competiveness being played in a tournament that will forever bear his name.

I like to think he continues to look down on these games, and unlike the rest of us limited by our mortal incapacity to be in more than one place at a time, able to hover over the two towns in which the tournament is unfolding simultaneously to revel in it all. As the fledgling umpires took their turns calling balls and strikes and ruling runners out or safe on the basepaths, they were following in the footsteps of one of the greats.

As promised now, the salient details of the opener which featured a pitching match up between Tri-Valley tenth grader Emily DiToro and Monticello senior Rebecca Wood. The Lady Monties wasted no time in getting on the board as they scored a trio of runs in the top of the first behind a three run jack from senior Emily Morey. The two-out blast scored Wood and Lacey Bray who had arrived on base via a walk and a single.

Tri-Valley got one of those runs back in the bottom of the stanza as Rachel Adriaans scored on a passed ball with Kayla Yager at the plate. An E-6 then loaded the bases but Wood got DiToro to ground out to prevent any further damage.

The second inning was Tri-Valley’s undoing as it allowed eight runs to cross the plate as the Monties batted around. It began with an E-6 that allowed sophomore Ashley Falu to arrive safely at first before DiToro plunked Yami Reyes and walked Wood to load the bases with no outs. An RBI single by Bray and an E-6 off the bat of Sam Cohn plated the first two runs. A passed ball sent another home. A walk to Paulina Pavese loaded them up again setting the table for an RBI single by Catitlin Radlein.

Falu’s stroke of the bat produced another error allowing two more runs in and a double by Reyes sent home two more. When the dust cleared, Monticello held an 11-1 lead. Tri-Valley went scoreless in the bottom of the second as did Monticello in the top of the third. Tri-Valley got its second run of the game in the third inning via an RBI single from Ashley Exner.

Wood drew a bases loaded walk and Cohn produced two runs on a fly out as Tri-Valley misplayed the ball sending it home instead of to third thereby failing to get the runner who tagged up from the hot corner and allowing a second run to score on a throwing error back to third. The Monties now led 14-2.

Neither team scored in the fifth and both added a run in the sixth. Monticello scored on an RBI single by Wood. Tri-Valley manufactured a run as Exner led off with a double, Nicole Bradley walked . Exner stole third and scored as DiToro hit into a double play.

Tri-Valley cut into Monticello’s 15-3 lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Erin Smith had an RBI single , a stolen base and an RBI single by Exner accounted for the final two runs.

Monticello Coach Shannon Dietrich was pleased with the win. “Rebecca is our number two pitcher. She came out and got ahead of batters. Unfortunately she got away from it a little bit and walked a few people. An error happens and that kind of took her out of it mentally. But overall she was able to come back and get the win. The second half of the game she definitely got better as the game went on and that was what I was glad to see. The run support is nice too,” she noted.

On the downside, “We have to work to do in execution. The effort is there. We’re trying and working hard but it’s the little things, the fundamentals that we’re not executing such as covering a base, fielding ground balls, calling for a ball. We missed a sign. Little things like that should be automatic at this level,” noted Dietrich.

“Thank goodness we were able to get the run support early,” she concluded. Dietrich planned on using a flex lineup in the second game as she prepared to send veteran Sam Cohn to the mound. Dietrich brought up freshman Brianna Bennet from the J.V and wanted to get her into the game as well.

Tri-Valley Coach Mary Feusner, now in her 35^th year of coaching with 33 of those as head softball coach had this to say about the first game: “We came on hitting pretty decently towards the end of the game. Erin Smith did a great job running the bases effectively and communicating out there. We had first game jitters and our pitching wasn’ t as sharp as it needed to be and our miscues in the field meant we hurt ourselves more than Monticello hurt us,” she noted.

“That happens with the first game out and lots of kids not here during practice because of spring break,” she added.

Game two featured a pitching clash between Manor’s Samantha Scott and Monticello’s Sam Cohn. Cohn did allow the aforementioned triple to Scott in the top of the first but escaped damage by inducing an inning-ending pop up to first off the bat of Victoria Davis.

Scott issued three walks in the second inning but escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting Wood to ground out from short to second. After retiring the Monties in order in the top of the second, Livingston Manor scored five in the bottom of the frame as Cohn walked Jordan Miller and Jordyne Shaver before Nina Zheng dropped a perfect bunt down to load the bases . An RBI single by Jamie Sedlacek got the Lady Wildcats on the board. Magi Calo drew a bases loaded walk and Scott then cleared the bases with a a double.

So at the time of my departure, as I mentioned it was 5-0. When I get the details of what happened next I’ll come back and fill them in. As noted, Livingston Manor held on for the 10-7 win as Monticello fell to 2-2. The Lady Wildcats would improve to 3-1 over the as yet winless Lady Bears in the tourney finale.

According to T-V Coach Mary Feusner, “In the final contest of the day, Tri-Valley was plagued with the inability to throw strikes from the circle. Three different pitchers issued 18 walks in a shortened game due to the 15 run rule. It was 3-3 after the first frame and then Manor never looked back as they tallied 7 runs in the second, 8 runs in the fourth and 6 more runs in the fifth frame. Manor had 11 hits. The only extra base hit came from the bat of Megan Edwards. An RBI triple in the fifth. Manor’s pitcher Katie Rau, an eighth grader, picked up her first varsity win.

For the Lady Bears Rachel Adriaans scored twice. Adriaans, Amanda TerBush, Erin Smith, Kayla Yager, Jessica Kinney and Ashley Exner had one hit apiece. Exner’s double in the first plated two teammates.

T-V moves into division play this week with home contests versus Chester and Seward. The Lady Bears venture to Fallsburg on Friday.

Over in Liberty Sullivan West (2-2) beat Family School, 15-0 and won by forfeit 7-0. Hannah Schwatz tossed a no-hitter in the opener, striking out 14, and added two doubles, a triple and single. Katie Taylor went 3-for-4. Schwatz had two hits.

Nick Piatek took photos of one of the Sullivan West game and those pictures along with the albums of the Tri-Valley/Monticello and Monticello/Livingston Manor game (first three innings) can be viewed at www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com

Breaking Through

29 March, 2012 by Richard Ross Amanda Grobusch, Arianna DaCosta, Girls Basketball, Karen Atack, Lena Episalla, Monticello, Quasia Walker, Shamira Moore, Sports, Yami Reyes, Zequia Revell No comments

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.

Eyes On The Prize

Monticello Evinces Heart and Soul Versus Burke But Comes Up Short As Lady Monties Still Need Two Wins For Sectional Invite; Lady Eagles Set Sights On Class B Title Quest With Ayala Back From ACL Rehab; Episalla Sisters Play Against Each Other For First Time Ever

John S. Burke Catholic 48, Monticello 37

By RICHARD A. ROSS

rross@sportsinsightsny.com

Photos at: www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com

Scenes from an epic battle (clockwise) Burke junior Jessica Ayala blocks Monticello's Zequia Revell. The Burke Eagle mascot last seen by this writer at Glens Falls as the boys won the state title. The Monticello Panther. Burke's Casey Undersinger cans a three. She led all scorers with 18. Another trey, this one from D.J. Presutti as Zequia Revell closes a bit too late. The Episalla sisters reckon with each other. That's Monticello freshman Lena in the foreground and Burke senior Nicole behind her to the left. Monticello freshman Yami Reyes fires up a late three that rims out. She is defended by Burke's Kelly McLaughlin. Monticello's Shamira Moore scores early. She led her team with 11 points.

MONTICELLO, NY—Great basketball games are stories unto themselves and the February 3 non-league clash between the host Lady Panthers of Monticello and the victorious visiting Lady Eagles of John S. Burke Catholic was indeed a novella.

Replete with compelling chapters all of which will be recounted shortly, it is a tale that conveys far more than the final score of 48-37 would suggest.

But the subtext of plot lines running underneath this encounter is even more intriguing.

Monticello junior guard Arianna DeCosta drives the ball up the floor as Burke's Casey Undersinger closes in to defend.

For Monticello, which began its season at a 15-year best mark of 4-0, the prospect of making it to sectionals after years of drought has been a goal vehemently sought after by a young team with only one senior in the fold.

Longstanding veteran Coach Karen Atack knew from the outset that the fast start would be no guarantee of reaching the pot of gold at the end of the regular season rainbow. A December 16 league loss to Cornwall was the first defeat

And with the New Year, tough losses would soon follow suit including a 37-36 loss to O’Neill and a close 52-46 defeat against Class AA Minisink Valley. Add in subsequent losses to Goshen, Washingtonville, Warwick and now Burke and the Lady Monties now find themselves at 7-7 needing to win two of the next four games to make it to the Big Dance.

Three of those games are rematches against league rivals in Goshen, Port Jervis and Cornwall. They must also face a non-league test against Valley Central.

Things will be infinitely harder now with the loss of outstanding junior guard Yadira Montes for the rest of the season and the fact that the Monties will also lose the powerful interior presence of Nyasia Blakney who is moving to Fallsburg this coming Monday for family reasons and will now play for the ascending Lady Comets.

Despite the turmoil, Atack who mentors her players not just on the court but oversees their academic progress as well as being pro-active in their lives anyway she can, had been feeling that many positives were surfacing including rising grades, greater stability etc. But this latest series of setbacks has really put the team to the test.

That said, they came out in this game and “Left their hearts and souls out there,” said Atack.

The game also featured another subplot which could be dubbed “Sister Act.” Burke senior Nicole Episalla and her young sister Lena, a freshman guard for Monticello, would be playing against each other for the first time ever. More too on this later in this narrative.

Burke's D.J. Presutti dribbles the ball as Monticello's Lena Episalla looks for a chance to marshal a steal.

Burke’s story is compelling too.

With five of its top six players heading out the door via graduation, the remnants of the team which lost a heart-rending 32-29 game to Highland in last year’s Class B Sectional Final was in for a spate of new challenges, not the least of which was an injury to junior forward Jessica Ayala, a key veteran of last year’s campaign.

Ayala tore the ACL in her left knee last May and spent seven months assiduously rehabbing it. She missed the first six games of the season. After a season opening win over Ellenville, the Lady Eagles dropped six straight including the January 10 game against Kingston, the night of Ayala’s return.

Burke is undefeated in Division IV play with wins over O’Neill, Sullivan West and Liberty. Playing a daunting non-league schedule, Coach Matt McGinnis’ squad absorbed losses against the likes of Cornwall, Newburgh, Lourdes, Marian Regina, McNichols, Monroe-Woodbury and Pearl River.

Now at 5-8 (3-0 OCIAA) following this night’s 48-37 win over Monticello, the Lady Eagles look to run the table on their league opponents Liberty, O’Neill and Sullivan West to see how they’ll be seeded in the Class B Sectionals. Highland, which plays in the MHAL has a tougher league schedule and could be the number one seed if it remains unbeaten. Regardless of who is one and who is two, the stage may be set for the hoped-for redemptive final for the Lady Eagles.

But on this night, they’d first have to deal with a determined Monticello squad which came out and dominated them early on to amass a 13-5 first quarter lead.

Monticello senior Zequia Revell is overshadowed by Burke's Dominique Nutt as Lady Panther Nyasia Blakney looms. Blakney played her last game for the Lady Monties as she is moving to Fallsburg where she'll bring her strong inside game to bear on the Lady Comets' Class C run.

Monticello controlled the opening tip but the Lady Monties missed a couple of shots in the paint. Turnovers were rife in the early going as were misses by both squads. The Lady Monties got out to the early 4-0 lead with buckets from Shamira Moore and Arianna DeCosta.

Burke was noticeably affected by Monticello’s press and went scoreless for nearly four minutes until Casey Undersinger nailed a three to bring the Lady Eagles within one. Monticello missed a couple of easy lay ups, something Atack would allude to later in her post-game assessment of her team’s positives and areas still needing work.

Ayala gave Burke its first lead at 2:02 but the Lady Monties would go on an 9-0 run to close the quarter as Blakney began things with a bucket to put the Monties back on top. Freshman Yami Reyes scored, then got a steal and dished it to Moore who scored. Moore hit on one free throw and Blakney put back the miss of the second.

McGinnis called time out and the fans in the Pit were feeling their oats. Monticello’s defensive verve was the story of that opening stanza.

Teams like Burke that play under pressure against much tougher rivals can quickly adjust. The Lady Eagles soon did that as they went on to outscore Monticello 19-8 in the second quarter to assume take a 24-21 lead into halftime.

The Monties had the better of it early on in the second quarter, leading 17-8 after a bucket from Blakney but Burke tore off a 16-4 run to close the quarter as they got 11 points in the stanza from Casey Undersinger, a trey from D.J. Presutti, four points from Elora Taphorn and a trio of free throws, two of which came from Lucia Presutti off a technical foul and one from Kelly McLaughlin which put Burke on top 20-19 with 1:30 to go in the period.

Monticello had cooled off as its shots weren’t falling and Burke had regained control of the flow. Four points from Moore and two points from Zequia Revell and Blakney were all they could manage as the Lady Monties committed fouls, turned the ball over and lost their shooting acumen. Burke’s Dominique Nutt tied the game at 19-all and. Moore had a steal and scored but Burke had the last word in the stanza for the 24-21 lead at the break.

Monticello regained its composure and hustle in the third quarter as it played Burke closer. Burke outscored Monticello 10-8 in the stanza to marshal a 34-29 lead but the Monties were in serious foul trouble which would soon lead to the exit of Moore, Blakney and Episalla.

Monticello got four of its eight points in the frame from the stripe. They’d end up 10-for-16 on the night for a respectable 62 percent. Moore scored her final three points in the third quarter. She ended up with 12.

Moore-watch: Burke's Nicole Episalla looks to keep tabs on the dangerous Shamira Moore.

Undersinger began the third quarter with a trey. Moore followed with a bucket and one as the Monties closed within two at 26-24. The score hovered there for what seemed like an eternity. Moore incurred an offensive foul as she edged closer to five which would come sooner rather than later.

Still, prior to that the Monties managed to tie the game at 28-all with 2:36 to go in the third quarter. Burke went on to outscore Monticello 5-1 for the 34-29 lead after three.

Without Moore, Episalla and Blakney, the fourth quarter resulted in a 14-8 Burke advantage. Burke enjoys far more depth and experience than Monticello and the frequent substitution allowed an unending supply of fresh legs against the Lady Monties who had fewer reserves to utilize. In addition, the skill level of Burke’s reserve players far exceeds that of the Montie subs, many of whom are inexperienced and young.

Undersinger led all scorers with 18 points. Ayala provided 10.

In addition to Moore’s 12, the Lady Monties got nine from Yami Reyes and six from Blakney. Zequia Revell had nine rebounds, three assists and four steals. Moore added seven rebounds and six steals while Blakney had eight rebounds.

Atack was extremely pleased with her team’s performance. “Obviously foul trouble was the turning point. But I told them that even though it’s a loss, I’m so proud of them. We left our heart and soul out there and that’s what’s important to me. We had freshmen running the point. We did a good job defensively.” Offensively Atack admitted her team’s shooting percentage was sub-par and that they missed a number of easy lay ups. “We were also out of position on some rebounds,” she added.

Atack holds high expectations for her players, not just in their on-the-court performance, but in their academics and overall deportment. A strong advocate of rewarding integrity and perseverance as well as reminding her players for the lack thereof by sitting them at times, Atack’s approach to coaching is unique and immensely commendable. She stands by her principles and is tough. Some people may criticize her approach this writer extols it.

Sisterhood

Rivals for the moment in their contrasting school uniforms, Lena, left and Nicole Episalla are sisters forever. Different to be sure in terms of their interests, they share an abiding friendship and a common love of the game of basketball. Both declared it was fun to play against each other for the first time.

Following the game the Episalla sisters talked about the rare encounter. Nicole said, “It was a lot of fun.” Asked if she was nervous about it she claimed she wasn’t but added, “I was a little wary about it because I didn’t want to stuff her but it worked out well,” she quipped. “It was a very competitive game,” she added.

Lena chimed in “It’s the first time I’ve ever played against her but it was fun and it was a good experience. I know the whole team and the junior varsity team too,” she added. Lena went to school with many of them before parting ways to head to Monticello to pursue her love of music. She’s been playing piano since she was about four and relishes the opportunity to study with Anne Trombley.

Of course playing basketball for the Lady Monties has been fun too and as a freshman, Lena has brought great energy and defensive verve to the team.

Nicole who is three years older overcame a torn ACL that kept her out of sports for a full year. She plays lacrosse and volleyball too, juggling all of that with an off-season AAU basketball schedule, an integral part of the Lady Eagles’ annual hoops contention.

Nicole’s dad, Charles Episalla is an orthopedic surgeon and she has expressed a desire to pursue a career in medicine as well. A top student, Nicole has applied to a bevy of excellent schools but has yet to decide where she is going. She has been offered admission to a pre-med honors program at Case Western University as well as a similar one at Pitt.

Other schools still in the picture include Cornell, Columbia, Boston College, Brown and Dartmouth and more.

Soon that will be resolved and in the fall she’ll head off to pursue her studies. But for now, basketball still looms large and the fiery elder sister, like her teammates, looks for a redemptive and successful outcome in this year’s Section Nine tournament.

Reminiscent of the opening lines of “The Naked City, the iconic detective series that aired on television from 1958-63, which used to decry, “There are eight million stories in the Naked City,” this saga between these two teams replete with their trials and tribulations, their sisters et-al, makes for a tapestry of tales with numerous chapters yet to be written.

More to come.

For an album of photos, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com