GIRLS BASKETBALL – DETERMINATION

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Hey friars! Our girls varsity basketball team proudly started their season on February 13th, returning with determination to try and claim a CHSAA league title this winter. The Friars finished 2020 on a tough note, but since then the basketball team has been fighting hard to come back stronger than ever in 2021. Even with the many obstacles that lie ahead when it comes to covid, let’s continue to cheer for how far sports have come during covid.

The Friars finished the 2020 season 3-18 but many things have changed since then. One, the amount of determination to win this season. Here is Head Coach Hughie Flaherty’s  responses to the following questions about the season. 

Jr. Colleen McCullagh

What do you expect from the team this season?
“I expect a good season, we are young but pretty good. We are being led by Colleen McCullagh and a supporting cast of Erin Conte, Giannah River our seniors, and four freshmen, Ava Darvassy, Kathleen O’Mara, Amanda Paci, and Iyana Morel. Maria Chiariello will contribute tremendously out of the post position.”

What do you hope the team improves on?
“We improved immensely on defense. That is our goal.” 

Sr. Giannah Rivera

And lastly, Who are the captains this year?
“Our captains this year will be Colleen McCullagh, Erin Conte, and Giannah Rivera.”

In order to have a strong team, we need strong leaders, like senior captain Erin Conte. When asked, What has surprised you about the team this season? “This season the team instantly formed a strong connection allowing us to work very well together and everyone has brought a lot of energy and hard work onto the court every day.” Hearing this from a captain goes to prove that being united will play a big role in helping them win. 

Conte’s second question; How do you feel about the championships and the outcome? “I think championships are a great experience and opportunity for teams to show their highest potential and efforts. This year we are a very strong team and by keeping up the hard work I believe we can get far into the playoffs and potentially win the league championship. We win or lose as a team and no matter the outcome we always stay positive and look forward to the next game.”  

Sr. Erin Conte

Returning this season we have seniors Noelle Alfano, Annabella Cole, Conte, Kaylee Ferreira, Rivera, and Kate Smyth returning. We also have Kathrynn Licciardi who is a sophomore and junior McCullagh returning as well. Based on these returners alone the season has high hopes. These veterans bring a strong defense and offense to each game and we can’t wait to see how well they do this season. On the same note, they will have big shoes to fill with the loss of Cassidy Clarke, Kayli Parham, and Synclair Taylor who have all moved onto college. 

With the season finally underway, Covid still makes the season a little challenging with a no spectator rule for all sports, testing each week for the team, and a creative practice schedule to allow for proper covid spacing. 

This headstrong team has had 3 games so far this season, the results leading us to believe that the friars are off to a great start. The friars went against St. Dom’s for their first game winning 42-60. On the 19th they played Kellenburg and it was a close loss with a score of 34-39. The following day the Friars went up against Sacred Heart, winning with a score of 44-38. 

You can watch their success on livestream with each school hosting all their home games. The links can be found on Friarathletics.org under announcements. 

Isabella Moseley is a sophomore at Saint Anthony’s High School, writing for her first year with Friar scoreboard. She is also a member of Saint Anthony’s track and field team. In the future, she plans on studying medicine abroad and becoming a successful athlete.