And the winner is … Wood Designers
Congratulations to the team of Scott Zelnick, Allison Marguiles and all the “shocks,” Briana Delvecchio, Jessica Kaiser, Faryn Kusher, Zoi Marguiles, Stephanie Mejia, Jillian Sucato, Katie Uriarte and Samantha Zelnick.
Each and every one deserves championship status. Coming into the final rounds of elimination, Wood Designers was down by two games. It had to sweep the weekend and that’s exactly what it did. Both games were very close.
Friday night’s game saw Stephanie Mejia score an amazing 17 points to set the stage for a 38-34 win. Zoi Marguiles came through with her foul shots, as did Samantha Zelnick. Katie Uriarte and Briana Delvecchio did a great job defensively in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.
For Patrick J. Falci & Daughters Inc., Keren Baruch and Christina Trezza kept pressure on and it was a battle of defense.
Back on the court early Saturday morning, Frank Loriggio’s Patrick J. Falci & Daughters Inc. came out full steam ahead. Christina Agnello, who had a spectacular year, scored 17 points. Gina Loriggio, Christina Trezza, Jessica Bonfondeo, Charlotte Tuckner, Samantha Tuckner and Keren Baruch all had a fantastic season.
But let’s give credit where credit is due. Wood Designers called in Jessica Kaiser and Faryn Kushner for defensive moves and Jillian Sucato for scoring. Needless to say, all performed well. The final icing on the cake was Samantha Zelnick’s foul shot that sealed the win, 35-30. Thank you for a wonderful weekend of games. Congratulations, Wood Designers.
Final thoughts: The MVP award was given to Andie Karow, with an honorable mention going to high-scorer Zoi Kourkoumelis. Thanks also to independent score keepers Paul Cohen and Mark Karow, game clock operator Zack Baruch and Mary Loriggio.
McDonald’s of Bayside Rockets
soar to title
Prior to the start of the playoffs the junior girls held their annual skills day where every player has the chance to show off what she has learned. For the ‘A’ group, this year’s winners were Danni Yaron, who had the longest shot; Lisa Ventimiglia, who was recognized for the most foul shots and best ball-handling; and Stacy Schimmel, who was awarded for making the most baskets in 30 seconds.
For the ‘B’ group it was Sarah Friedman for most baskets made in 30 seconds; Yvonne Uriarte for the most foul shots; and Molly Karow for the longest shot.
The DAC junior girls’ division ended its season this week after an exciting double-elimination playoff that left the McDonald’s of Bayside Rockets, the 2004 Junior Girls League champions, by going 3-0 in the postseason.
The first team eliminated was the Marino Bros. Liberty — but not without a tremendous effort by all. Honorable mention to Carlie Epstein, Tobey Ben-Aderet, Lauren Block and Alexa Tanney for their valiant efforts.
The remainder of the Liberty squad, Olivia Shendell, Alexa Giokas, Jillian Panagakos, Jillian Randell and Hannah Gavios are to be congratulated on a wonderful season.
The projected longshot for the season, the Washington Mutual Bank Sparks, who got off to a slow start early in the season, certainly came on strong in the end to take out the first-place Lightning in the middle rounds.
Molly and Olivia Karow led their team from day one and played with heart all season, but it was the bench that brought the team to the championship game. Danni Yaron began a late-season scoring spree along with Jesse Naftaly and Samantha Dugan, which proved to be enough to cover the spread and give the Sparks the seed in the final game.
The first-place Lightning, led by young phenoms Brittany Cervino, Joy Hallmark and Rae Underberg, played with amazing strength. The heart showed by the rest of the team was commendable. Kudos to Donna and Christina Wylie, Lauren Mione, Samantha Gosman, Nicole Costa and Dayana Trufillo.
In truly spectacular fashion, the McDonald’s of Bayside Rockets recouped from their end-of-season slide into second place and stepped up like true champions to reclaim their prize. This is a team where truly everyone contributes. Every player scores and plays top-notch defense.
The hero of the playoff series has to be Sarah Ho. Scoring about 10 points a game, she was unstoppable through the middle with her natural hook-type shot. Congratulations to all the Rockets for their meteoric rise to the rank of Junior League Champions for 2004. The Rockets are Sarah Ho, Sarah Friedman, Stacy Feiman, Stacy Schimmel, Allison Belfer, Yvonne Uriarte, Natalie Pruden, Kimberly Mejia and Stephanie Zacharuk.
DePhillips Sports Tar Heels
win Senior League crown
The DAC Senior League Championship game came down to a final game with the DePhillips Sports Tar Heels beating the Utopia Family Chiropractic Red Storm, 76-73. The Senior League for 2004 was the most balanced it has been in a number of years with any team capable of beating another.
Clearly the two most talented and balanced teams were in the finals and the exciting play showed that. For the triumphant Tar Heels, Justin Yaeger had 24 points, Joey Mare made 18 points and Mike St. John scored 20 points. Thomas Hubany added six points and Greg Pruden had six points.
Mike Kestenbaum and Al Werner played great defense and helped shoot down the Red Storm in the last 10 minutes. For the Red Storm, Adam Villuvio had 21 points, Jason Vasquez 19, Jon-Erick Hott 15 and David Chong nine. Both coaches, Tom Hubany of the Tar Heels and Rob Offley of the Red Storm, thanked their teams for a great season of competitive play and good sportsmanship.
