Material posted in chronological order...
Summer League
(posted 06-18-10)
BJ Flemings is an incoming freshman who will make an immediate impact for Hodgson.
St. E's freshman, Macy Robinson, has the unique advantage of having already been in the
system for a year. As an 8th grader last year, she logged major minutes and started a
good many games. Look for her to pick up right where she left off.
DGB.com's 2010 CYM Player of the Year, Sabrina Hackenendorn, will vie for quality
minutes at the post for the Lady Vikings this coming winter.
What's a St. E's story without a shout out to Tori Casper? This coming winter, Tori will
provide senior leadership out of the backcourt.
Although winter coaches have been allowed to coach their schools' summer teams for 2 or 3
years now, Tom Ferrier turns over the reins to former Viking standouts Amanda Craig and Alex Massado.
The two did a great job piloting their charges to a win over Hodgson in a close one Thursday night.
Gold Division Quarter Finlals
Appoquinimink 39, Friends 21
DMA 34, William Penn 19
St. George's 40, Delcastle 29
Hodgson JV forfeits to Padua
Blue Division Semi-Finals
St. Elizabeth's 37, Hodgson 32
St. Mark's 31, Caravel 14
Blue Division Semi-Finals Recap
For anyone new to Summer League, the Blue Division is the higher skilled bracket and consists mainly of ranked varsity teams. The Gold Division is comprised of JV teams and varsity teams from smaller schools.
In the semi-finals on Tuesday, St. Mark's made easy work of Caravel, more than doubling them on the scoreboard. It was basically a story of St. Mark's experience and defensive prowess overpowering a young Lady Bucs team that was playing too tight and tense. Caravel blew a lot of easy shots. Still, enough cannot be said for the stifling Spartan defense. St. Mark's might not be a scoring machine on the offensive end, but they usually cobble together enough points to beat you.
The St. E's/Hodgson matchup was an interesting affair. HVT came into the game as the defending Summer League Champs from 2009. The Silver Eagles return such weapons as point guard Jazmin Johnson and Alyssa Cuomo -- both of whom will provide upperclassmen leadership this coming winter. Rookie freshman Briana Flemings is a top-quality acquisition for Hodgson who will help keep the competitive level high in this proud program.
The Lady Vikings turned in a better season last winter than many had a right to expect. And the combination of returnees, plus some incoming rising stars, bodes well for St. E's to improve upon last winter's finish. Seasoned veterans Tori Casper and Paige Davis can play basketball in their sleep. New addition frosh, Sabrina Hackendorn, had a strong summer league second half and should make an impact right off the bat come November. But maybe the player to watch this season is Macy Robinson. Only a freshman, she played major minutes on varsity last year as an 8th grader and is the real deal.
As for the actual game, St. E's got out to a lead -- usually between 5 to 10 points -- and just stayed there all game. Hodgson would occasionally reel the score in and make it interesting. At one moment late in the game, the difference was just two points. But, the Vikes seemed to be able to find points in the clutch and got several key tallies from the foul line. And that was pretty much it.
This sets up an all-Catholic Conference Final on Thursday, which should be a dandy!
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear
Freshman Claudia Seemans keeps the ball safe for St. Mark's.
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear
Caravel's Yasmin Walker
Gold Division Semi-Finals
Padua 25, DMA 22
The game was 9 and a half minutes old by the time Padua Academy scored their first basket. Yet, as rusty as the Pandas started off, they managed to squeak by the Seahawks by a three-point margin.
For DMA, most impressive was the play of McKenzie Gibson, who scored 11 points – half the DMA total.
For the Pandas, the win would not have been possible without great contributions from frosh Emma Matthews and soph Anna DiBonaventura, who scored 8 and 6 points respectively.
Gifted rising freshman, Emma Matthews. We cannot envision Emma not winning a starting spot this winter based on her Summer League play over the last two months and her CYM / AAU track record.
Appoquinimink 42, St. Georges 20
This was a tale of two outstanding efforts from the Jaguars. Ashley Smith dropped 19 points while Tierra Scott contributed 15 of her own.
Judi Ramirez had 8 for St. Georges.
Summer League Wraps Things Up
with Gold Division Final
Padua Over Appo in a Yawner, 41 – 26
Let’s start off with the good news for the Lady Jaguars: Only one of their suited players did not score. Dialing that news back a notch, that meant that only 5 girls did score. A handful of Appoquinimink’s front-line players were missing in action (literally) due to other commitments. This did not help the Jag’s cause one little bit. Add to that a 10 for 28 (36%) performance at the free-throw line, sub-par production from Tierra Scott (7 points on the night, 2 baskets from the floor), and a team defensive effort that could not keep up with the Panda offensive barrage of varied shot selections, and you have the recipe for a long night if you’re an Appo fan.
For Padua, a good game plan would have been to just go out and play and don’t do anything to mess things up. Like Appoquinimink, the Paduinians also had just one girl who did not score a point. But, this meant 9 players did score. And that proved to be a bit overwhelming in favor of the Padua cause. The Pandas have no “big stick” superstar player. There’s no one player that sticks out. But just as true is that there are no players on the team that are just getting by either. All told, over the course of the summer, there were probably 20 or so girls that played for Coach Tobin’s crew. Every one of them can play basketball. I would not want to be in his shoes come November. There are going to be some hard decisions to be made. But, that’s for the future. For the here and now, the Pandas are the Gold Division Summer League Champs!
Coming up big for the Pandas “offense-by-committee” were Victoria Boyd (12 points), Julianne Lambert (9 points), and Emma Matthews (5 points).
Victoria Boyd led all scorers with 12.
Julianne Lambert burst out of the gate with a couple of quick baskets. Early on, it looked like she might have a 20-point night, but she settled down and contented herself with helping teammates for the rest of the evening.
Padua keyed on Tierra Scott most effectively. A couple of big-minute Appo starters were not in attendance. Scott could have used their help in keeping the Panda defense more straight up. At any rate, it was a tough night for the tall Jaguar team leader.
Brionna Creek waits to enter the game for the Jags.
Amani Clark displayed some real nice skills at point for Appo.
Tori Casper Takes First iPOW Since Last March!
(posted 07-23-10)
Spartans Fall to the Vikings in a Classic Blue Division Final!
St. Elizabeth's Prevails over St. Mark's in Overtime, 36 - 32
(posted 07-23-10)
What a game! An overtime Title Game!
This matchup was infused with a lot of athleticism and good basketball from both squads. If the game came down to any one thing, which overtime nail-biters often do, it would have to be the free-throw percentage from St. Mark’s. They were 8-for-20. The Vikings were a little better at 8-for-14. But, just one more made foul shot from St. Mark’s in regulation would’ve given them the trophy. I suppose the same could be said of St. Elizabeth's too.
Here's something not in dispute. Coming up huge for St. E’s was senior, Tori Casper, who kicked in 16 points to lead all scorers. Tori also spread out her offensive punch by scoring 8 in each half. The Vikes got 5 each from Macy Robinson, Paige Davis, and Keisha Puckham. We don’t have a rebound total, but if we did, surely Sabrina Hackendorn paced the game. And her boards were crucial. So, it was a real team effort all the way around.
For St. Mark’s, Lindsay Nichols had 12, Alison Zimny dropped 6, and Jenna Wolff chipped in 5.
Both teams will be in fine shape this coming winter.
Photo at left courtesy Dennis Leizear.
It seems that Viking Paige Davis has been playing for St. E's since I was a young boy. It is hard for me to remember a St. E's roster without her. In the Summer League Title Game, every Viking brought something to the table. Paige's contributions were steadiness, aggressiveness and solid ball handling.
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear.
Playing on the JV squad for St. Mark's last year, rising junior, Alyssa DiBonaventura, will vie for a varsity spot this fall.
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear.
Jenna Wolff slams on the brakes in order to shake the Viking defense.
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear.
Sam Bonvetti's high school career has been marked by long stretches of time on the disabled list. Hopefully, this winter she'll stay healthy and pull down major minutes.
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear.
I like to have a unique catch phrase that I apply to every great girls hoopster in the state. This summer, what I came up with for freshman Macy Robinson was, "Always knows what she's doing." And indeed, Macy's most developed skill is probably her terrific court sense.
Photo courtesy Dennis Leizear.
What is a St. E's story without a shout out to Tori Casper? While many Vikings contributed to the big win, Tori was the primary offensive spark for the team all night long.
Your 2010 Summer League Champions, St. Elizabeth High School.
