By Joe Costa
With the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend falling in mid-January it almost coincides with the mid-way point of most High School basketball seasons. The Monday National Holiday enables us to honor a great man’s pioneering vision of equality and civil rights and at the same time enjoy a three day weekend to catch some match-ups of teams that basketball fans ordinarily may not be able to see.
My travels first brought me Saturday to Long Island New York for the second edition of the Blue Star High School Elite Invitational series. On Sunday, I attended the third and final edition of the series in Fort Washington Pennsylvania. Monday I was off to Berlin, Ohio for the legendary Classic in the Country.
All in all I was fortunate to see some great match-ups among teams from six states that are primed for playoff runs as well as some talented players that had some good showings in front of us and a bevy of college coaches.
Blue Star High School Elite Invitational – Northeast
My first stop was at Long Island Lutheran in Long Island, New York. The wooded picturesque campus played host to the six teams from two states in the first northeast Blue Star High School Elite Invitational.
St. John the Baptist (N.Y.) 65 Boys and Girls (N.Y.) 48
Don’t let the score fool you; with the exception of a few minutes here and there, this was a well played and well coached game. St John’s started strong with a 12-0 run that was fueled by Gianna Locker (2016…5-6…G…Deer Park, N.Y.) who scored 11 of her 13 total points in the first quarter. Locker is a hustler with a comfortable jump shot from 3 point land plus constantly finds herself in the middle of just about every tie up or battle for loose ball.
Boys and Girls got a jump start following a much needed time out in the first period. The Kangaroos used a full court press and their inside height advantage to chip away at the St. John’s lead bringing the game back to a two point deficit at the half.
Boys and Girls then came out of the locker room on fire, using an 11-5 run to take a 38-33 lead in the third quarter. Kayla Hill (2015…5-9…G/F…Massapequa, N.Y.), who led the Cougars with 15 points, picked up her third personal foul and Kaitlyn Montalbano (2014…5-5…G…West Islip, N.Y.), who had 10 of her 14 points in the 2nd quarter went cold facilitating the run for Boys and Girls. Hill re-entered the game with 1:50 left in the quarter and scored four straight and added an assist on the last basket of the quarter to propel the Cougars back to a 45-40 lead after three. The fourth quarter was all St. Johns as they pulled away from the Kangaroos to a 65-48 win. Montalbano, like most good shooters, has no conscience when it comes to getting her shot and when she has it going, it really goes! Hill has great potential. She has a good pull up jump shot in the lane but also attacks the rim strong. Her ball handling in the open court is good but needs some work as she will be a two or three guard in college.
The Kangaroos bigs led Boys and Girls. Murray Nelson (2015…6-3…F…Garden City Park. N.Y.) led the way with 13 points, while Fatoumata Konare (2017…6-6…C…Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted 10 of her own and Lauren Segars (2016…5-8…G…Jamaica, N.Y.) added 9 points.
North Shore (N.Y.) 86 Sachem East (N.Y.) 65
The match-up between these two Long Island teams ultimately yielded 151 total points. North Shore was paced by a 33 point performance from eighth grader Gabrielle Zaffiro (2018…5-9…G…Glen Head, N.Y.). Zaffiro does just about everything on the floor. She shoots, gets to the hoop, handles the ball and passes like a much more seasoned player. Defensively she anticipates and reads the opposition well. Senior Caroline Robertson (2014…5-10…F/G…Glen Head, N.Y.) added 26 and another 13 came from Ashleigh Sheerin (2017…5-8…G…Glen Head, N.Y.) to round out the top scorers for the Lady Vikings. Robertson is an under-recruited G/F, a fact that stumps Lady Vikings coach Keith Freund.
“I think it has to do with Caroline sometimes having to play inside on both her high school and travel teams” said Freund.
For her size Caroline can handle the ball in traffic, shoots it on par with any 2 or 3 guard around and understands the game really well. With some hard work and a break or two, Robertson should make a great 3 position player at the DII or DIII level.
Although they could not keep up the same pace as North Shore, Sachem East had no issue taking some advantage of the Lady Vikings style of play. The Flaming Arrows used their increased possessions to put 65 points of their own on the board behind 29 points from Bryant signee Kathleen Everson (2014…5-11…F…Farmingville, N.Y.) and 19 by Katie Doherty (2014…5-10…F…Holbrook, N.Y.) who will be suiting up for Holy Cross next year.
Neumann-Goretti (P.a.) 61 Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) 47
The day’s most anticipated match-up between these two top 20 teams started out with all the electricity of a college rivalry game. Both attacked each other with little results on the scoreboard but the pace kept the crowd into the action and energized. Long Island Lutheran led 13-12 at the end of the first quarter which led to Neumann-Goretti coach Letty Santarelli made adjustments to her defense enabling the Saints to get out and run. As a result Goretti took a 32-25 lead into the locker room at the break. The second half continued with Neumann-Goretti’s pulling away despite the dazzle and tough play of Lutheran’s Lauren “Boogie” Brozoski’s (2015…5-5…PG…Cambria Heights, N.Y.). The Michigan signee had a 22 point effort and got help from Nani Redford’s (2015…5-6…G…Great Neck, N.Y.) final tally of 11. Neumann-Goretti got a strong performance from Sianni Martin (2015…5-7…G…Philadelphia, Pa.) who led the team with 18 points. A.J. Timbers (5-11…2015…G/F…Philadelphia, Pa.) provided 13 more for the Saints as did Ciani Cryor (2015…5-6…G…Philadelphia, Pa.).
Blue Star High School Elite Invitational – Mideast
The Sunday Showcase held at Upper Dublin High School is the flagship of the Blue Star HS Elite Invitational series. The Showcase featured 4 good match-ups of teams from 3 states.
Germantown Academy (Pa.) 49 Cicero North Syracuse (N.Y.) 44
This was a tight game throughout with both teams struggling to find the cracks in each other’s defense. After battling to a 26 all draw at the half, it looked as if this game was headed to the final buzzer to determine the outcome. In the end, Germantown Academy got a 16 point second half performance from Olivia Gorman (2015…5-6…PG…Lower Gwynedd Pa.) who finished with a game high 29. Gorman is a strong outside shooter that makes things happen for the Patriots. For the game she hit 5 three pointers and scored 10 of her team’s 11 fourth quarter points. Margaret Anne Hubbell (2014…5-9…G…Doylestown, Pa.) added 11 more to the Patriots winning effort playing hard and finishing well at the basket.
While this year’s Cicero North team doesn’t have a sequel to Breanna Stewart, the latest version of the Northstars are playing hard in the attempt of carrying on the traditions that basketball fans have come to expect from the Connecticut standout’s alma mater. McKayla Roberts’s (2016…5-2…G…North Syracuse, N.Y.) 11 points led the way in the loss while Elizabeth Miles (2014…5-10…F…Cicero, N.Y.) and Samantha Tortora (2016…5-9…G…North Syracuse, N.Y.) each added seven.
Bishop Shanahan (Pa.) 51 Rutgers Prep (N.J.) 45
Meeting pre-game with legendary coaches Mary Klinger and Fran Burbidge you would have gotten the impression that this was going look like a JV game. Great coaches always downplay expectations and these two have it down to an art. Another trait of well coached teams is balance.
“A team that is balanced is near impossible to defend” I heard this over and over at numerous Coach K clinics over the years.
Both of these teams are very well coached, they play hard, smart and are balanced. Rutgers Prep’s line score is a case study in this theory spreading the scoring out over four quarters and getting all players who played in the scorebook. The Argonauts high scorer was Allison Girardi (2015…5-4…G…Somerset, N.J.) with 14 points. Girardi controls the action and despite her size is scrappy and plays extremely hard. She keeps everything running smooth for the legendary New Jersey Prep School. Gabi Redden (2017…6-1…F…Hillsborough, N.J.) and Olivia Dabney (2017…5-10…G/F…East Windsor, N.J.) both added 7 points for Rutgers Prep. Redden is a big inside presence while Dabney is more than just a freshman starting for the Argonauts, she contributes. Her incredible upside includes both forward and guard skills. Playing for the highly regarded Klinger, the court intelligence is there and she’s logging valuable minutes at a young age.
In the win, Bishop Shanahan had balanced production over the course of the game as well finishing with 8 of 9 players in the scoring column. Ciara Forde’s (5-9…2016…G…Glenmoore, Pa.) steady outside presence led the Eagles with 11 points and Jamie Powers (2015…5-6…G…East Falawfield, Pa.) added 10 more. The balanced inside play of both Kelly Dreiling (2014…5-11…G/F…Exton, Pa.) and Grace Phillips (2016…6-0…F…Downingtown, Pa.) yielded 8 points each and kept the keel even for the Eagles.
In the end, Bishop Shanahan out scored Rutgers Prep 29-19 in the second half and the Eagles held Girardi scoreless while Powers’s got 5 of her 10 points in the final stanza.
“We tried to be more aware of where they were looking to get to” coach Fran Burbidge said. “We switched a lot more in the second half, knowing that if we got caught with mismatches down low, we could immediately double with someone other than whoever had Girardi.”
Penn Charter (Pa.) 45 Wissahickon (Pa) 21
After a 6-6 start to the game, Penn Charter came out of a time-out and jumped on the Trojans. The Quakers finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to put Wissahickon in the rearview mirror never looking back. Penn Charter is an athletic group and get after you defensively. They held Wissahickon to six total field goals for the entire game en route to a 24 point win. Guard Hannah Fox (2016…5-5…G…Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) had 13 and Ayanna Matthews (2016…5-7…G…Philadelphia PA) add 12 for Penn Charter. The Trojans leading scorer was Julie Weber (2017…5-10…G/F…Blue Bell, Pa.) with 9 points.
Central Bucks West (Pa.) 43 Upper Dublin (Pa.) 32
Central Bucks West used an 11-4 final quarter to pull away from the hostCardinals. Other than the third quarter this game was pretty evenly played. Both teams had trouble finding ways of scoring and no one opened up more than a six point spread. The Cardinals had two players in double figures. Allison Chernow (2016…5-6…G…Dresher, Pa.) finished with 11 and Julie Cross (2015…6-1…F…Oreland, Pa.), a Syracuse Lacrosse commit, added 10 more.
Mackenzie Carroll (2015…5-7…G…New Britain, Pa.) led the Bucks with 11 points. Carroll is a consistent outside shooter demonstrated by her 3 of 4 three point shooting. Central Bucks best player, Nicole Munger (2015…5-9…G…Doylestown, Pa.), did not have her typical game finishing with just 10 points. However the Michigan early verbal commit is a seasoned player and knows that remaining tough and steady is the key to getting results on an off night. In the fourth quarter she was 5 of 5 from the line to help seal the victory for the Bucks.
Having completed its 2013-14 season, Blue Star Basketball will expand the High School Showcase series in the 2014-15 school year. Anyone interested in competing in a Blue Star HS event in the future please contact Hope Fuery at
Classic in the Country
My trip to Berlin Ohio for the 11th Annual Classic in the Country was more observation than an evaluation event for me; OK it was really for the fun! In my defense I would like to offer the following. First and foremost my friend and colleague Mark Lewis not only covers this event for Blue Star every year, but Mark’s pictures and words leave us mere mortals with nothing left to say on the subject. Secondly you really have to witness this event to believe it and when you do; being a fan, all I can say is wow!
I attend a lot of events and see a lot of basketball games during the year but nothing captures and holds your complete attention like the Classic in the Country. It is without a doubt the best run, most fun, most friendly, first class girl’s High School basketball event in the country. The competition is top notch. This year’s event featured 31 teams from all over Ohio and one team from Colorado. This year’s event drew the interest of 156 college coaches and broke an all-time attendance record with over 20,000 fans. The hospitality is incredible highlighted by plenty of homemade offerings from local restaurants. The atmosphere is electric. Like the NBA, each game features crowd interaction, contests and family fun. The event’s organizer, Tom Jenkins, a retired civil rights attorney and humanitarian will gladly tick off to you everything that you might want to know about the Classic without pause. But Tom is sure to start with his staff of mostly volunteers that work year round to produce the event. Visitors are treated to the local Amish culture along with some of the best food and shopping anywhere.
“The kids are treated like queens, we take them shopping and maybe bowling… we really try to introduce the kids to all the great things the area has to offer” said Jenkins.
Joesph Costa – Joe has been with Blue Star for 13 years and serves as a Program Consultant and National Skill Development Coordinator. Coaching the Pittsburg Rockers for over 10 years; he helped produce two national championships and over 75 scholarship student athletes. Additionally Costa has coached both girls and boys on the high school level as well as serving as a floor coach for several Nike camps and skills academies. He currently resides in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
