Sports Wrap-Up: Alexander Hamilton Girls Basketball Wins Two out of Three Games

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Alexander Hamilton

It was a very busy week for the Red Raiders with three games. They currently have a record of 13-1.

The Red Raiders beat Blind Brook 59-26 last Monday to pick up their 12^th consecutive victory. Senior Maia Hood had a superb game pouring in 23 points while pulling down 17 rebounds. Tiffany Corselli had another wonderful game for the Red Raiders contributing 20 points while dishing out five assists.

After the game Red Raiders head coach Benjamin Carter mentioned the skilled defensive play of Jasmine Robinson and Kali Gill as being vital in the team’s victory.

Last Wednesday was one of the most anticipated games in Section 1 since the schedule came out. The Red Raiders hosted the best team in Class AA the Ossining Pride and this game was filled with great plays and lots of offense.

Unfortunately the Red Raiders lost their first game of the season 88 to 79. The Red Raiders had the lead until the middle of the fourth quarter. Ossining senior guard and the all-time Section 1 leading scorer Soniya Chong had 24 points during the fourth quarter. She will be playing for the University of Connecticut next season.

Hood and Corselli each had remarkable performances against Ossining. Corselli knocked down several 3-pointers and had five assists, finishing with 29 points. Hood also finished with 29 points while also tearing down 14 rebounds. Robinson contributed 10 points.

“I felt and knew we would play extremely well,” said Carter after the Ossining game.  “We practice and prepare for teams at a high intensity and knew that Ossining had to really focus on defense to stop us as we had to focus on stopping Chong and their solid role players.”

Carter believes his squad needs to work on how they play at the end of games.

“We can learn to finish out games harder and mentally making proper decisions. If not, that could be the turning point in us not completing a goal to go all the way, but its one game at a time,” said Carter.

Carter believes that Hood and Corselli deserve a little more recognition for their accomplishments on the court.

“Maia and Tiffany coming out of a small school showed that they are truly next level players as Chong,” said Carter.  “I think it goes unnoticed because we are a C school but to me it’s all a numbers thing and not a skill thing because they have the skills plus they are taught well.”

According to Carter each player succeeds on the hardwood due to different skills that make each of them unique players.

“Maia Hood showed she is a true scorer and a good shooter who can explode for points on and off the dribble taking over games and demanding double teams from opponents defensive players including power house Ossining,” said Carter.

“Tiffany Corselli is a dynamic point guard with crafty and controlled dribbling skills who can shoot the lights out of the basketball, create her own shot, pass with efficiency, makes her teammates better and control the flow of a game as she showed against Ossining.  She’s a sleeper that went unnoticed in Westchester and can play on the Division 1 level just like Hood if you asked me,” said Carter.

Most of the season the Red Raiders have been ranked as the #1 Class C team in New York State.

“We know about the number 1 ranking but it’s just a number and we focus on each game at hand,” said Carter concerning the rankings.  “Don’t get me wrong, the number one ranking is a nice thing because it gives us recognition to see what our team is all about.  Its also cool because we earned it playing against larger schools which should give us a little lead way when we get back to Class C league play.  So, we stay focused by remaining humble and continuing to work hard to get even better.”

Good Counsel

It was a wonderful week for the Cougars on the hard wood. They won three games this week over Maria Regina, St. Catherine’s and Aquinas.

The Cougars first win of the week came over arch rival Maria Regina. In that game Johanna Levine had 23 points and hit several key free throws in the final minute of play. Levine also pulled down 11 rebounds. Tranisha Gumbs had a remarkable performance versus Maria Regina scoring 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Kathleen Massaroni had 11 point and nine rebounds, Colleen Wall scored four points and Gaelle Desroches had two points.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Stepinac B

Last week the Crusaders lost to Iona Prep B and best Holy Cross B. They lost 49-39 to Iona Prep B and Joanquin Spencer’s was the team’s leading scorer.

The Crusaders beat Holy Cross B 49-46 using a strong fourth quarter effort to clinch the victory. In the fourth quarter they out scored their opponent 19-10. Justin Thomas and Aidan Guinan had 13 points to lead the Crusaders. In this game 12 of Guinan’s points came from 3-pointers. Sterling Lovelock had 12 points, Spencer six and Tommy Keane helped his team scoring five points. Lovelock led his team with eight rebounds while Keane had five assists.

INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

White Plains Boys

At the Westchester County Championships on Saturday the Tigers had a wonderful showing as a team finishing third out of 24 teams. Leading the way for the Tigers was Thomas Johnson who won the triple competition and took second in the long jump. Chris Cardon won the 1000 meter run. Tyler Ford was third in the 55 meter dash and Jay Martin took third in the 55 meter hurdles. The 4 x 200 meter relay team finished third out of 15 teams.

White Plains Girls

Nina Tucker finished third in the high jump at the Westchester County Championships and the 4 x 400 meter relay team finished third out of 16 teams.

HOCKEY

White Plains

The Tigers went undefeated this week winning all three games against non Section 1 opponents Bethel/Brookfield/Danbury, Whitesboro and Cortland.

Stepinac

Stepinac beat Xavier 8-2 in their most recent game. Goals were scored by Frank Haklits 2, Charlie Flemen, Kyle Mahoney, John Albergo, Rob Sanders, Rob Dannenfelsor, Anthony Careccia. Wyatt Zuk has three assists in the game while Rob Sanders and Charlie Flemen had two assists apiece and Kyle Mahoney contributed one assist. Goalie Anthony Mensi had 13 saves in the victory.

SWIMMING

Good Counsel

Recently the Cougars lost swim meets versus Holy Child and Hackley. Senior Callie Kanim had superb performances in both meets by winning three races during each meet.

Stepinac

Last week the Crusaders beat St. John’s by the Sea in a dual meet at Staten Island College.