It seems like Holy Angels has played St. Mary of the Assumption a dozen times this year. The truth is probably closer to half that number. In the first such encounter – or one of the first times this season – the Lady Hawks took the Angelic Ones to overtime, only to lose in a heartbreaker. It was – and still remains – the closest any team has come to defeating the Angels this season. These are two teams that know each other well. Two teams that probably get pumped to play the other. At the end of the day, however, St. Mary’s is still empty handed as all the scores have gone to the Navy & White.
Oh, it’s not that St. Mary’s is lacking in talented players. A nearby coach with a handful of years of high school experience on the hardwoods was heard to say during the tournament that Laura Hurff was one of the best skilled player that he had seen at the Shootout. Hurff runs point for the Hawk attack and she has a lot of weapons. Chief among them are speed to burn, ball control, and a no fear approach to driving the lane – even if it means taking on 3 or 4 defenders in close quarters.
Another primary piece of the St. Mary’s armament has to be Rachel Liskiewicz. A former iPOW winner, this is a girl blessed with a disciplined shot, the ability to get to the foul line often, and, consequently, she just might be the most bruised and battered body in the Lady Hawk lineup. Her free-throws are a near sure thing.
Other standouts on the St. Mary’s roster include Neelam Modi, who brings nice height and a presence underneath; Colby Ciarrocca, who showed great court sense and hustle in the finals; and Jessica Reynolds, a disciplined, smooth athlete who seems born to play sports.
For all of that, St. Mary’s is a fine team. And they would probably rule the roost in the C Division this year were it not for two simple words in the English language: Holy Angels.
To describe Holy Angels, I’ll need two more words: Excellence and Depth. Coach Mark Tobin may be the only C Division skipper who can sub 5-for-5 and not lose anything. And what we’re talking here is formidable. Defending CYM Champions. Undefeated in the 2009/2010 season and the odds on favorite to repeat as champs. He could close his eyes and pick his five on-court players out of a hat and still bring home big score victories.
Every Angel is deserving of mention, but to go through the entire lineup would turn this article into a book, so we’ll limit ourselves to the girls getting the most minutes.
Anyone familiar with this website knows about Sabrina Hackendorn. She is actually a revolutionary figure in local girls hoops. I’ve been following the game closely since the late 90s. I’ve watched hundreds of games and coached probably a couple hundred players, grade school through high school. I’ve never seen a better, more truly dominant rebounder than Hackendorn in all this time and experience. She is revolutionary in that she is rewriting the “Laws of Girls Basketball.” A good example is that for an eighth grade girl to have a 20-rebound game is quite an accomplishment. Worthy of getting your name in the newspaper at the very least. But for Sabrina, 20 rebounds is what she might call a nice amount to accumulate by halftime! Hopefully, other girls coming up will see what is really possible with the art of rebounding by watching her play the game.
Joining Sabrina in the frontcourt is 7th grader, Caroline Davis. Only half-kiddingly do I refer to her with my friends as “the Number One ranked 7th grader in the nation”, a title that was actually held – for real – by Elena Delle Donne. Now, I don’t assert that Davis is the best 7th grader in the country, but in the State of Delaware? Perhaps. She has a near-perfect build for the sport, and she does everything right. She oozes discipline. She has the blocking ability of Brittney Griner, the shooting form of a good high school senior or college player, and she’s better at bringing the ball up the court than a lot of guards.
Speaking of guards, Claudia Seemans is about as good as it gets at point guard. Unlike so many of her peers, Seemans utilizes the whole floor when advancing the ball. She passes the ball hard, on a line, and can thread the needle with her passes in heavy traffic to find targets most one-guards her age wouldn’t even see. Added to this is a killer three-point shot and the ability to cut-and-slash when dialing her own number.
Renada L’Italien backs up Seemans and is a perfect complement to her in that she brings a whole different look, with maybe the exception of the 3-point shot. If anything Renada’s three is even more impressive as she can hit from amazing distances. As a point guard, she is steady, knows what she wants to do ahead of time, and makes few mistakes. L’Italien would most likely start for the majority of C teams out there.
Emma Matthews is a sort of swing player who probably spends more time as a wing-guard than anywhere else, though she is quite capable of handling the one if Seemans and L’Italien are not around. Emma’s game has really come into its own of late, forcing DGB.com to start dropping her name. We used to think of her as just another talented kid on Holy Angels. Now, she’s transitioning into an expanded role and turning in great work. Matthews has that uncanny knack for hitting those crucial, “momentum baskets” that are so near and dear to a coach’s heart.
In the Finals matchup between St. Mary’s and Holy Angels, the defending champs jumped out to a huge 12 – 1 lead in the early going, ending the first quarter up, 14 - 4. But the Hawks battled their way back. In the second quarter, both teams scored 8 points. The third quarter belonged to the Hawks by a 9 - 3 margin. There was even a time when they even narrowed the deficit to a single point. The fourth quarter was an offensive showcase with the teams scoring 28 points all told - 16 from the Angels, 12 from the Hawks. At the buzzer, the scoreboard indicated that Holy Angels had won, 41 - 33.
The keys to the outcome were simple and obvious. According to DGB.com’s Tom Dunn, there were too many white (Holy Angels) shirts. The Angels defense is flexible, responsive, very difficult to crack, and everywhere at once. It was at the defensive end that Holy Angels won the game. Offensively, they got stellar efforts from Hackendorn (13 points) and Maddy Waegele (12 points). Both girls turned in a great effort in buckets and rebounds and were often working in tandem with each other right under the basket. For Waegele, it may have been the best game we ever saw out of her, earning her the latest iPOW Award.
We should also not overlook the importance of free-throws to the outcome of this game. Taking away Liskiewicz' trips to the charity stripe, St. Mary's was just 2-for-12. Holy Angels, as a team, was 13-for-20. A simple thing like a better performance for St. Mary's on foul shots, combined with fouling less on defense (to send Holy Angels to the line fewer times) might have been enough to turn defeat into victory.
In every big win, you can’t leave out the point guards. They are the quarterbacks. This game was no exception. Seemans and L’Italien kept the offense on-message and were instrumental in giving their teammates – posts and wings – awesome setups on great passing.
Big props to St. Mary’s Rachel Liskiewicz, who was top scorer of the game with 15 (7-for-8 from the line). Maybe no player worked harder for each of her points than Liskiewicz. On easily half of her shots, players were colliding with her, hacking her, or windmilling her over the top. The fact that she was able to score at all is a great achievement, let alone pour in a total like fifteen.
So, the Holy Angels tour rolls on. The smart money is on this bunch to run the table for what’s left of the season. If and when that comes to pass, they will be remembered for quite awhile as one of the best CYM teams ever assembled.
Junior Varsity Gold Goes to Host, St. John the Beloved
Eagles Get the Better of IHM in
Come from Behind Victory
In the end, I suppose, the Eagles of St. John the Beloved were not going to be denied. They had everything going for them. Home court advantage. An undefeated record in the St. E’s League. And a coterie of exciting young talent like Kaitlynn Wolff, Gab Julian, Megan Mallon, Ally Walls, and the Brush sisters, Sarah and Annie. How could they miss? And yet, for 3 full quarters, the final outcome was very much in doubt.
Their nemesis on this particular evening were the Lady Spartans of IHM. To say that these two squads knew each other would be putting it mildly. Not only are the two teams in the prestigious St. E’s League, playing each other semi-regularly, but also some of the girls on both teams have played AAU ball together, and continue to do so. A friendly rivalry, but a competitive one.
The story of the game, Cliffs Notes version, was that St. John’s had the ball much longer than IHM. IHM was able to hit many, many shots that typically would not be expected to go in, but somehow did. Still, the more aggressive, more energetic Eagle “D” was the deciding factor in this one. The Spartans could shoot the ball at an 80% clip, but if they only had the ball 2 minutes for every 4 or 5 that the Eagles had it, and, if they continually turned the ball over, which they did from time to time, it was going to be a tough platform to build an upset victory on. As time wore on and the game minutes piled up, St. John’s offense got into gear. Evidence of this would be a line graph of their scoring by quarters: 2 in the first; 7 in the second; 12 in the third; and 16 in the fourth. Still, this was no easy accomplishment. IHM had the lead at the end of the first three quarters. It was the final frame, won by St. John's 16 - 8, that was crucial.
For the Spartans, one of the most fun teams to root for at the 5th/6th grade level, they got great efforts out of Emilie Hager (8 points), Alena Skowronski (7 points), and Nicole Fontana (4 points).
For the Eagles, 8 was the magic number, it seemed. Scoring that many points each were Kaitlynn Wolff, Gabrielle Julian, and Sarah Brush. Not far behind was Megan Mallon with 6.
Photos from Championship Night
JV Title Game
Gab Julian helped make DGB.com history by being a part of our first
video player interview right before the Title Game.
Her interview was terrific! But, she doesn't need DGB.com to make her famous. Gab's got the size of a forward and the ball skills and quickness of a guard. A very nice shooting touch from both the perimeter and underneath.
IHM's coach, Jeff Skowronski, paid Megan Mallon a nice compliment by referring to her as a player that he wanted to focus a part of his defensive effort upon. Even so, she hit two field goals and went 2-for-3 from the line in the big game.
Kendra Ziemba had five points in the Title Game, including a big three-pointer in the fourth that contributed mightily to the Eagles' late game surge.
Emilie Hager was leading scorer for IHM with 8, a figure that tied her with three players on St. John's for game leading scorer.
Alena "Snake" Skowronski is about as hard to catch on a basketball court as a snake is in the forest.
She had 7 points in the Title Game, including a three-pointer.
IHM's Kiera Wendel (with the ball) has to take on Gab Julian and Kaitlynn Wolff.
Kiera was also part of our video player interview.
Varsity Title Game
Maddy Waegele was awesome, scoring 12 points and doing well in all phases of the game.
Rachel Liskiewicz would end up leading all scorers with 15. Here, she takes on Caroline Davis.
Colby Ciarrocca on her way to an 8-point night.
Caroline Davis had 6 points in the game.
Emma Matthews is playing some great, consistent basketball this year. She was 2nd highest scorer for the Angels in the tournament semi-finals (7 points) and contributed a respectable 6 points in the finals.
Must be fun to win all the time!
The ultra-talented 2010 Edition of Holy Angels Varsity!
Post Game Festivities
JV All-Tournament Team:
Left to right: Alena Skowronski, Kailyn Kampert, Julia Furey-Bastian, Jade Dunning, Megan Mallon, Kaitlynn Wolff, Bridgette McLaughlin, and Gabrielle Julian.
Kaitlynn Wolff was named Tournament MVP.
Photo courtesy of the Wilmington Tigers.
These four All-Tournament selectees all play on the same Wilmington Tigers AAU team:
Gabby Julian, Alena Skowronski, Kailyn Kampert and Julia Furey-Bastian.
There was a secondary tier of the tournament that had already determined their champions prior to the last night.
The Varsity Champions of their bracket was Holy Angels #2 Team. Left to right, Jazmyn Parker, Lauren Johnson, Amanda Smith, Brittany Quimby, and coach Greg Shivery. (Yes, Holy Angels won both varsity brackets!)
There was an individual shooting skills component of the tournament. St. John's seemed to run the table winning most of these. Here, Kaitlynn Wolff & Megan Mallon accept their awards in the JV division. They both tied for first place making 10 out of 15 free-throws.
Varsity Division Shooting Skills Champs include Megan Eller (left) for free-throws (12 out of 15) and Paige Lacek (right) for three-pointers. Lacek's effort was remarkable in that she hit 13 threes in 1 minute. The next closest competitor had 8.
Varsity Division All-Tournament Players: Alex Thomas, Hannah Schlegel, Peyton Marcozzi, Erin Diviney, Lauren Johnson, Colby Ciarrocca, Emma Matthews, Cassidy Flanigan, Sabrina Hackendorn.
Sabrina Hackendorn won Tournament MVP.
Worthy of mentioning is that Hackendorn won the JV Tourney MVP in 2008 as a 6th grader, and won the Varsity Tourney MVP in 2009 as a 7th grader. With this latest one, she wins three in a row. According the the tournament program booklet, no girl (except Sabrina) has ever won more than one MVP!!
Early Rounds & Final Four Photo Gallery
A Final Word...
The Sherwood Park Shootout might be the apogee of the CYM basketball schedule, rivaling, even, the “official” end-of-season playoffs and Title Game. The Shootout provides a more “Hollywood” atmosphere for the games. Each game comes replete with player introductions and National Anthem. And then there’s the concession stand. Sure, you can expect the typical hotdog and soda, but at the Shootout, the menu extends to the unexpected. A game attendee can sample meatball sandwiches, mozzarella sticks, soft pretzels (heated or room temperature), and DGB.com’s personal favorite – chocolate chip cookies baked right there, hot out of the oven!
Many places would be able to match St. John’s on all the extra-curricular trappings if they decided to do so, but at the heart of this tournament’s appeal is the competition on the court. And this is where the Shootout’s organizers really excel. Year after year, they are able to pull in the very best teams. The result is that the Shootout’s first round of games are much like watching the last couple rounds of the official CYM playoffs. And the matchups just get better day after day.
DGB.com would like to thank the Shootout’s volunteers for the direct assistance they provided day in and day out of the tournament. Extra special thanks to Kevin Igo, who was our point man on statistics and weather delays. Also, we can’t forget Mr. Mallon, who, for two years running, has gone entirely out of his way to make Tom and I feel welcome at the tournament. When we are at St. John’s, we are treated as though we’re actually important people! We’re not. But, it’s nice to feel that way, if only for a few nights in the winter.