Varsity Girls Basketball Looks To Rebuild, While Varsity Boys Hope to Take Advantage of Their Experience

In an attempt to get people fired up for the next sports season, here are some previews of this winter's Varsity Basketball teams. Previews of the Ice Hockey, Fencing and Squash teams will be coming soon. Games have already begun, so don't be shy! Get out and support the Panthers whenever possible.

How Big a Rebuilding Job Do the Varsity Girls Basketball Coaches Have?

In year one of the post Emily Edwards-Bourdrez Era in Portledge Girls Basketball there will be quite a few different faces and some younger players out on the court for the Lady Panthers. Coaches Henry and Reynolds were blessed with a large turnout for tryouts, and they will look to create a positive attitude of hard work that will carry the program forward into the future. In fact, there were so many players out for the team that some extra practices will be added, and some JV games scheduled, to help satisfy all of the interest. Some real thanks should go to Miss Henry and Mrs. Reynolds for taking the initiative and devoting their time to create this opportunity for all the girls interested in basketball in the upper school. It looks as if next year there will have to be a full fledged JV program. Getting back to this year though, the coaches will certainly be faced with some real challenges as the Varsity players are a bit short on experience.

One key returning player on the Varsity will be senior Yola Yu. Yola has been on the team for four years and is a proven rebounder and solid defender. Her competetiveness will be crucial as this young group searches for their identity during the early going. Another important returning player will be sophomore point guard Monique Kelly. Kelly is coming of off a great soccer season and she has looked good in practices and scrimmages so far. After concentrating mostly on passing last year, Kelly will be asked to score the ball more as this season rolls on. Two other returners who will be looking for increased minutes are Junior Leah Heffernan and Sophomore Robyn Worrall. Both these players, neither of whom played much last year, are good shooters, and will have to look to put the ball up when they are open. The player with the most potential to have a big impact is definitely Sophomore Akanksha Trivedi. Trivedi is the tallest player on the team and has worked hard during the off season to develop her ball handling and shooting skills. If Trivedi can score and rebound with some consistency, it will be a big plus for the Lady Panthers. The rest of the Varsity team is made up of a group of freshmen and sophomores who are ready to work hard and improve their skills as the program goes forward. The Lady Panthers won their first game of the season by defeating the Varsity of Mill Neck Manor and will next take the court at HOME on Tuesday v. Solomon Schechter (5:30pm).

How Do Things Look For the Varsity Boys Basketball Team?

The Varsity Boys team will go into its third year under the leadership of Head Coach Sandoval with a good deal of experience and some real talent. It looks to be an unselfish team that takes as much pleasure from setting up a teammate as they do in scoring. The overall play of Junior point guard Aaron Lee will be critical to the team's chances for success. Lee looks be much more comfortable handling the ball and directing the offense this year and it will be his job to spread the ball around to some fine scorers. Senior Kai Stoll returns to the middle of the Portledge line up and will be trying to build on two consecutive strong seasons. Stoll has great touch around the basket and should be counted on for double digit scoring game in and game out. Along side will be Senior forward Reid Ericson. Reid is a consistent player who will probably find more opportunities to score this year, as the ball seems to be moving more freely around the Portledge offense. The starting wing players will be Junior Trevor Wolfson and Sophomore Mark Dourmashkin. These two players might be the best athletes on the team and both have the potential to "fill it up". Wolfson plays solid "D" and loves to get out on the break , while Dourmashkin is kiddingly referred to as "Little Larry" because of his ability to both shoot and pass the ball at a very high level. In a scrimmage last week against Martin Luther, Dourmashkin was in the middle of some really nice Portledge passing plays, as he epitomized the team's unselfish attitude. Help off the bench will come from Seniors Ray Weinmann and Dan Duffy up front, while Junior Mike McCloskey will probably be spelling the back court players. In addition, everyone will be watching for the development of Sohpomores Ben Shapiro and Jon "JB" Brailsford as the season goes along. If these two can become contributors, Mr. Sandoval will have some real depth to work with. The Panthers first match is a tough one, as they open up at HOME v. Upper Room, last year's IPPSAL champ. This game will be on Wed, Nov 28th @5:30 pm.