OK...we have talked up basketball and hockey, so now it's time to wrap up the upper school sports previews with some discussion about squash and fencing. These are difficult sports to have knowledge about since squash is practiced off campus at the Creek Club and all of their matches are played in NYC and Brooklyn; and Fencing takes place in some far off place called the lower school gym...that's when it's not serving as a venue for the latest Portledge School drama production. I will have to say, 'hats off to the lower school students, faculty and especially Mrs. Carvell for yet another amazing winter pageant". But getting back to these off the radar programs, it is important to note that these fantastic programs would not work without the contributions of some very dedicated faculty members. First of all there is Dr. David Sarles. Dr. Sarles spends a good part of every winter afternoon behind the wheel of the Portledge bus ferrying students to and from the Creek Club, so that we may even offer a squash program. He is a tireless performer and we are all lucky to have his knowledge and wit around us at all times. The second person that deserves serious recognition is Mr. Eric Johnson. This winter Mr. Johnson is running both the middle and upper school squash programs and, as always, is doing a great job. He brings many years of experience to the job and performs it with a light hearted sense of enjoyment. The last of the 'men behind the scenes' is Freshman teacher Mr. Shane Cappucio. Mr. Cappucio has taken over the day to day oversight of the Varsity Squash program and has done a great job acclimating himself to all the responsibilities. Just last month, when the team showed up at the wrong Eastern Athletic Club in NYC, and found no opponents waiting for them, Mr. Cappucio kept his cool. He ascertained that there was another such establishment merely 12 blocks away, and delivered his squad so that the first match began right on time. Way to go Mr. C!!! It's the quiet work of individuals like these that makes Portledge Athletics the successful and inclusive program it is.....so a big thanks to all of you, gentlemen.
What's Going On With Portledge Squash?
The Portledge Squash program took a bit off a hit this winter when we lost the opportunity to field a JV squad. This was because a lack of available court space and it is something we are working on , so that hopefully next winter we will be able to offer squash to more individuals This winter, however, we have only a Varsity team and it is made up of 8 boys and 4 girls. The adventurous quartet of females are three Juniors with a good deal of experience on the court, Stephanie Hegarty, Elizabeth Girgenti and Hannah Fortgang, plus fearless Freshman Rachael Scheinman. Rachel is currently recovering from an injury sustained during play and we all wish her a speedy recovery. The top male players are Juniors John Litke, Miles Works, Sam Scheinman and Craig Renjifo. Sophomore Will Pascucci and Freshmen Sam Melman, Harrison Tanchuk and Zachary Cooper-Vastola all display good ability and a desire to improve their games. With veteran squasher Sam Ticker being the only Senior, this group has the potential to become a solid crew over the next two years. So far the squad has taken on Packer and Friends Seminary in coed matches and the girls have gone head to head with Brearly. While we have not won an overall match several individuals have broken through for single victories. The Varsity Squash team has a busy January as they will play coed matches v. Chapin (twice) and Poly Prep from Brooklyn. Good luck to all the players and Mr. Cappucio for a great season on the hardwood.
How is the Portledge Fencing Program Doing?
The answer to that question is.... that it's alive and well. This winter over twenty individuals are competing in Varsity foil and epee fencing and on a JV squad as well. In the groups first match, v. Horace Mann, the epee and JV teams were victorious , while the Varsity foil squad was defeated. Leading this year's fencers is a group of Seniors that includes Matt Ardito, Ashwin Chichwadkar, Nick Hagedorn, Adam Kravietz and Farone Rasheed. These individuals have been fencing throughout their upper school years and are providing excellent leadership to the younger swashbucklers. A key to the success of this year's epee team, which is arguably Portledge's best fencing dicsipline, will be the skill of Junior Alan Phipps. Phipps had some strong showings last year and he hopes to build on that success this winter. In foil, watch out for 8th grader Evan Solomon. Not only does Evan help coach our middle school fencers, but he is a ferocious competitor at the Varsity level. Good luck to Mr. Johnson and all the fencers as they compete in the very challenging ISFL (Independent School Fencing League). The fencers will host St Ann's and Rye Country Day on Wednesday and Thursday, January 7th and 8th, before heading off to a big quad match at Masters on Saturday, January 10th. The home matches will take place in the lower school gym.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Continuation of Abrakadabra / Blog Moves on to Discuss Varsity Ice Hockey Teams
As the weather turns colder many people in the Portledge community get a big smile on their face because they know it means the start of hockey season. Hockey is a big part of this small school it and has been from the institutions early days. Few people realize that two Portledge graduates were back to back captains of the Cornell University Mens Ice Hockey team in 2002 and 2003, or that two Portledge alums Doug Murray '98 and Eric Nystrom '01 are currently playing in the Nat'l Hockey League, while several others, such as Will Bodine '99, Ryan Vesce '00, Bob Goepfort '00 and Gerard Miller '01, play professionally in the North American minor leagues or in the elite leagues of Europe. In addition, three Portledge graduates, Lois Liotti '03, Garret Vassel '03 and Danny Markowitz '06, are currently among the top collegiate players in the nation, leading their teams at Northeastern, RPI and Dartmouth, respectively. Then there are all the other great players like Evan Wax '99, who starred at Yale, and Kenny Turano '99, who was a four year letter winner at Harvard, that have come through the Portledge program. Even further back we could mention Keith Merkler '89 a Portledge Bowl and Slanetz Award winner who was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a collegiate star at Princeton, or Justin Ort '90, who after graduating from Portledge went on to be one of the all time leading scorers in the history of Williams College ice hockey. I guess you all get the picture, that there have been some incredible student athletes and tremendous teams throughout the relatively short history of the school. I do apologize for all those I left out, because there are so many other fantastic and accomplished athletes I failed to mention. One of those is our current Varsity Boys Assistant Coach and former Portledge Captain, Jon Sandos, who has returned to Portledge, after a wonderful four year hockey career at Cortland State, to contribute once again to the legacy of Portledge Hockey. So, let's get on with it and see what's up with this year's Varsity teams.
Can the Varsity Boys Team Make a Move Towards Returning Portledge Hockey to its 'Glory Days' ? ( *Thanks go to to the Boss for the Question)
Head Coach Mike Coope and Assistant Jon Sandos worked hard last year to rekindle the spirit of Portledge Hockey gone by. They received tremendous assistance from last year's captain Zack Lombardi '08, and our best wishes are with Zack, who after taking a year off after graduation is in the middle of the college selection process, and all the other Seniors from the Class of '08. This work really paid dividends as the 08-09 version of Portledge Hockey comes together. It is a relatively young team that has only two Seniors, assistant captain Tim Morrison and winger Renny Kraft, and two Juniors, team captains David Wilson and Sal Magliocco. These four provide the leadership base that is necessary to build a program up. They have all been through many tough games and are very happy, and committed, to seeing the program rise once again. Joining with Morrison and Kraft in the team's attack is the young line made up of of Sophomores Kurt Krotz and Ori Benyamini and Freshman winger Matt Crockett. Both Benyamini and Crockett have older brothers who were successful Portledge Hockey players before them, and it is nice to see this continuity in the program. This is a talented line that has already demonstrated that it can dominate a game even at the highest levels. Playing along side Morrison on another line are Freshmen Brendan "the Governor" McGovern and slick stick handling winger Jesse Schandler. This has also been a great line so far, and gives the offense a real one/two punch. Anyone who knows real Prep School Hockey though, realizes you are only as strong as your third unit. After some fine tuning the coaches made a bold move by pairing returning Sophomore Tom Parise, one of the team's most experienced players, with Sophomore Stephen DiBartolomeo and Senior Renny Kraft. During the Princeton Day Tournament this line worked great together as Parise, who also plays point on the power play, went on to receive recognition ( The Christopher Reeve Award ) as one of the Tournament's top players. A host of other forwards including Junior Sam Cohen and Sophomores Ryan Murray and Anthony Pergola, Freshman Daylin Frantin and 8th grader Dylan Stuart will keep the pressure on the top nine by all consistently making a case for playing time.
On defense the team is anchored by co captain Wilson, but he has a great deal of help in the form of Sophomores Ron Fishman, Ryan Gottfried, Pat Condon and Matt Janketic. The coaches are also developing an even younger core of defensemen that includes Freshmen Matt Sullivan, Zach Pilson and Andrew Reiter, as well as early season surprise, 8th grader Michael Conslato. Behind all of this is returning keeper and team captain Sal Magliocco. If " Mags " can produce the type of netminding we saw last year, this will be a tough team to beat. So far, after early season victories over Fairlawn High and Rye Country Day the young team ran into some really competitive play in losing to Brunswick and Millbrook. Then came the early season highlight of a championship win in the Annual Princeton Day School Invitational Tournament. The Panther's victories over Holy Ghost Academy from Philadelphia and the host school, PDS, brought Portledge its third ever PDS Tournament trophy. The other times Portledge captured this prestigious crown came in 1986 and 1997. Both of these championships propelled the program onto some great runs of form. Hopefully that is what will happen now!!!!
Can the Varsity Girls Team Recapture its Amazing Play of a Year Ago?
We must start the section of the blog by stating that for the first time ever there is a young lady that can be spoken about in the same way as all of the aforementioned former stars of Portledge Hockey. There is no doubt that she will receive many accolades throughout the season, she already has orchestrated a huge early season win over Canterbury that avenged last year's only loss not to Mo' Beard, but it would be remiss if we didn't start the recognition here. You see, I'm not sure there would still be a Portledge Girls Ice Hockey program without the contributions of Siena Falino. She is the last remaining member of the six original girls hockey players who started the program six years ago, and with all due respect to Jess Sarrantonio and Kelly Alefeld, both former recipients of the Craigmyle Award for contributions to girls hockey, it is Siena Falino who put Portledge Girls Hockey on the map. She is regarded as one of the top, if not the top, female player under 19 in New York State. Her decision to remain at Portledge for her prep school career drew other girls to the program, and her subsequent leadership of these players has been unparalleled in all my years of coaching secondary school sports. I have seen Siena, or "C" as she is known around campus, do some amazing things on the ice, but it is really the kind and respectful way she goes about her day to day interactions with everyone that has left such a positive mark on our school. It looks like Siena will be playing her college hockey at Northeastern University; we wish her the best of luck, and strongly recommend that you mark off Monday, January 26th on your calendars, as this will be the last time you will be able to see Siena grace the ice down at Beaver Dam as a member of the Portledge Girls Ice Hockey team.
As great a player as Siena is, she could not have reached a mark of 14 wins and 3 losses last year all by herself. Whenever Siena is on the ice, you can usually find her trusted sidekick Addie Reilly on the wing. Reilly has become an excellent prep school ice hockey player and demonstrated her significance to the team by scoring a huge short handed goal in the third period of the big early season win over Canterbury. Addie is tough in the corners, faster than you think, and has a wicked shot. When Falino and Reilly are not on the ice, the forward tandem of Sophomores Ashley Wade and Alyssa Parke usually are. This dynamic duo is incredible at controlling the puck in the offensive zone, as they regularly cycle it between themselves, eventually drawing down the forwards and opening up the points for wide open shots. These two really love to play the game and are definitely a major part of this year's team. When she is not out there on defense, Maria Robbins can be found playing wing on one of these two lines and getting involved in the play in front of the net, and when she is at the point....watch out for the boomer as she loves to let go of the big slap shot. Freshman Katherine Gahagan is working hard to learn the game and contribute up front, as are Sophomores Sophie Steell and Ali James.
On defense the Lady Panthers are led by the returning duo of Junior Emily Prey and Sophomore Chelsea Caracciolo. Caracciolo was an WHILMA All League First Team choice last year and Prey can skate the puck out of the zone with the best of them. Added to these two fine players is 8th grader Erin Brand. Although she is the youngest player on the team, Brand is one of the most well rounded. She skates, passes, shoots and plays defense like a veteran and has certainly earned her spot at crunch time. Another newcomer to Portledge Girls Hockey is goaltender Olivia Rivera. Rivera is a top notch student as well as an accomplished goalie. She has brought a tremendous amount of athleticism to the Porledge cage and I look for her to be a key down the stretch.
Led by the fine play of Falino and the emerging scoring power of the Wade and Parke line, the Lady Panthers cruised through their early season schedule by notching wins over prep school powers Rye Country Day and Canterbury and registering victories over league foes Princeton High and The Hill School. In the case of the league games, both opponents thought before the game that they had closed the gap on the Lady Panthers from last year, only to find out that this year's version is faster and more well balanced than its predecessor. The girls finished off the pre break part of their schedule by competing in the Deerfield School Holiday Invitational. At this tournament the Portledge girls played against some of the toughest girls ice hockey teams in North America, and even though they were winless in four games, everyone who saw the games said that they played well and gained some excellent experience as they move forward in hopes of capturing a Mid Atlantic Championship. We all know, however, that this road runs through a little town in New Jersey called Morristown. The girls will return to play a big week of hockey against Rye Country Day, Shaddy Side and Holten Arms all on the road, followed by critical mid season games at Lawrenceville and Millbrook, before welcoming Mo' Beard to Beaver Dam on January 26th (4:00pm) for the first of two regular season meetings with the Crimson.
A big congratulations goes out to Mrs. Zoe Schwam for putting together such a great team, as well as a heartfelt 'welcome on board' to Mr. Ian Wisotsky, who has also joined the ice hockey coaching staff at Portledge.
One last note, come out to see the Portledge Middle School Little Panthers as they will compete every Thursday after holiday break down at Beaver Dam in the newly formed Middle School Ice Hockey League. The league includes Portledge, Green Vale, East Woods and Friends Academy and there will be two games every Thursday under the roof; one at 3:45, and another at 5:00. Check to see which time Portledge will play every week and come on down!!
Can the Varsity Boys Team Make a Move Towards Returning Portledge Hockey to its 'Glory Days' ? ( *Thanks go to to the Boss for the Question)
Head Coach Mike Coope and Assistant Jon Sandos worked hard last year to rekindle the spirit of Portledge Hockey gone by. They received tremendous assistance from last year's captain Zack Lombardi '08, and our best wishes are with Zack, who after taking a year off after graduation is in the middle of the college selection process, and all the other Seniors from the Class of '08. This work really paid dividends as the 08-09 version of Portledge Hockey comes together. It is a relatively young team that has only two Seniors, assistant captain Tim Morrison and winger Renny Kraft, and two Juniors, team captains David Wilson and Sal Magliocco. These four provide the leadership base that is necessary to build a program up. They have all been through many tough games and are very happy, and committed, to seeing the program rise once again. Joining with Morrison and Kraft in the team's attack is the young line made up of of Sophomores Kurt Krotz and Ori Benyamini and Freshman winger Matt Crockett. Both Benyamini and Crockett have older brothers who were successful Portledge Hockey players before them, and it is nice to see this continuity in the program. This is a talented line that has already demonstrated that it can dominate a game even at the highest levels. Playing along side Morrison on another line are Freshmen Brendan "the Governor" McGovern and slick stick handling winger Jesse Schandler. This has also been a great line so far, and gives the offense a real one/two punch. Anyone who knows real Prep School Hockey though, realizes you are only as strong as your third unit. After some fine tuning the coaches made a bold move by pairing returning Sophomore Tom Parise, one of the team's most experienced players, with Sophomore Stephen DiBartolomeo and Senior Renny Kraft. During the Princeton Day Tournament this line worked great together as Parise, who also plays point on the power play, went on to receive recognition ( The Christopher Reeve Award ) as one of the Tournament's top players. A host of other forwards including Junior Sam Cohen and Sophomores Ryan Murray and Anthony Pergola, Freshman Daylin Frantin and 8th grader Dylan Stuart will keep the pressure on the top nine by all consistently making a case for playing time.
On defense the team is anchored by co captain Wilson, but he has a great deal of help in the form of Sophomores Ron Fishman, Ryan Gottfried, Pat Condon and Matt Janketic. The coaches are also developing an even younger core of defensemen that includes Freshmen Matt Sullivan, Zach Pilson and Andrew Reiter, as well as early season surprise, 8th grader Michael Conslato. Behind all of this is returning keeper and team captain Sal Magliocco. If " Mags " can produce the type of netminding we saw last year, this will be a tough team to beat. So far, after early season victories over Fairlawn High and Rye Country Day the young team ran into some really competitive play in losing to Brunswick and Millbrook. Then came the early season highlight of a championship win in the Annual Princeton Day School Invitational Tournament. The Panther's victories over Holy Ghost Academy from Philadelphia and the host school, PDS, brought Portledge its third ever PDS Tournament trophy. The other times Portledge captured this prestigious crown came in 1986 and 1997. Both of these championships propelled the program onto some great runs of form. Hopefully that is what will happen now!!!!
Can the Varsity Girls Team Recapture its Amazing Play of a Year Ago?
We must start the section of the blog by stating that for the first time ever there is a young lady that can be spoken about in the same way as all of the aforementioned former stars of Portledge Hockey. There is no doubt that she will receive many accolades throughout the season, she already has orchestrated a huge early season win over Canterbury that avenged last year's only loss not to Mo' Beard, but it would be remiss if we didn't start the recognition here. You see, I'm not sure there would still be a Portledge Girls Ice Hockey program without the contributions of Siena Falino. She is the last remaining member of the six original girls hockey players who started the program six years ago, and with all due respect to Jess Sarrantonio and Kelly Alefeld, both former recipients of the Craigmyle Award for contributions to girls hockey, it is Siena Falino who put Portledge Girls Hockey on the map. She is regarded as one of the top, if not the top, female player under 19 in New York State. Her decision to remain at Portledge for her prep school career drew other girls to the program, and her subsequent leadership of these players has been unparalleled in all my years of coaching secondary school sports. I have seen Siena, or "C" as she is known around campus, do some amazing things on the ice, but it is really the kind and respectful way she goes about her day to day interactions with everyone that has left such a positive mark on our school. It looks like Siena will be playing her college hockey at Northeastern University; we wish her the best of luck, and strongly recommend that you mark off Monday, January 26th on your calendars, as this will be the last time you will be able to see Siena grace the ice down at Beaver Dam as a member of the Portledge Girls Ice Hockey team.
As great a player as Siena is, she could not have reached a mark of 14 wins and 3 losses last year all by herself. Whenever Siena is on the ice, you can usually find her trusted sidekick Addie Reilly on the wing. Reilly has become an excellent prep school ice hockey player and demonstrated her significance to the team by scoring a huge short handed goal in the third period of the big early season win over Canterbury. Addie is tough in the corners, faster than you think, and has a wicked shot. When Falino and Reilly are not on the ice, the forward tandem of Sophomores Ashley Wade and Alyssa Parke usually are. This dynamic duo is incredible at controlling the puck in the offensive zone, as they regularly cycle it between themselves, eventually drawing down the forwards and opening up the points for wide open shots. These two really love to play the game and are definitely a major part of this year's team. When she is not out there on defense, Maria Robbins can be found playing wing on one of these two lines and getting involved in the play in front of the net, and when she is at the point....watch out for the boomer as she loves to let go of the big slap shot. Freshman Katherine Gahagan is working hard to learn the game and contribute up front, as are Sophomores Sophie Steell and Ali James.
On defense the Lady Panthers are led by the returning duo of Junior Emily Prey and Sophomore Chelsea Caracciolo. Caracciolo was an WHILMA All League First Team choice last year and Prey can skate the puck out of the zone with the best of them. Added to these two fine players is 8th grader Erin Brand. Although she is the youngest player on the team, Brand is one of the most well rounded. She skates, passes, shoots and plays defense like a veteran and has certainly earned her spot at crunch time. Another newcomer to Portledge Girls Hockey is goaltender Olivia Rivera. Rivera is a top notch student as well as an accomplished goalie. She has brought a tremendous amount of athleticism to the Porledge cage and I look for her to be a key down the stretch.
Led by the fine play of Falino and the emerging scoring power of the Wade and Parke line, the Lady Panthers cruised through their early season schedule by notching wins over prep school powers Rye Country Day and Canterbury and registering victories over league foes Princeton High and The Hill School. In the case of the league games, both opponents thought before the game that they had closed the gap on the Lady Panthers from last year, only to find out that this year's version is faster and more well balanced than its predecessor. The girls finished off the pre break part of their schedule by competing in the Deerfield School Holiday Invitational. At this tournament the Portledge girls played against some of the toughest girls ice hockey teams in North America, and even though they were winless in four games, everyone who saw the games said that they played well and gained some excellent experience as they move forward in hopes of capturing a Mid Atlantic Championship. We all know, however, that this road runs through a little town in New Jersey called Morristown. The girls will return to play a big week of hockey against Rye Country Day, Shaddy Side and Holten Arms all on the road, followed by critical mid season games at Lawrenceville and Millbrook, before welcoming Mo' Beard to Beaver Dam on January 26th (4:00pm) for the first of two regular season meetings with the Crimson.
A big congratulations goes out to Mrs. Zoe Schwam for putting together such a great team, as well as a heartfelt 'welcome on board' to Mr. Ian Wisotsky, who has also joined the ice hockey coaching staff at Portledge.
One last note, come out to see the Portledge Middle School Little Panthers as they will compete every Thursday after holiday break down at Beaver Dam in the newly formed Middle School Ice Hockey League. The league includes Portledge, Green Vale, East Woods and Friends Academy and there will be two games every Thursday under the roof; one at 3:45, and another at 5:00. Check to see which time Portledge will play every week and come on down!!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Abrakadabra....The Hey Hills blog is like magic / After a long post fall season hiatus the Portledge Athletics blog is back!!
A very special Holidays and New Year Greetings to everyone and anyone out there who might occasionally find a little time to check out the Hey Hills blog. I'd like to take a quick moment to throw out a very special thanks to The Portledge School's Director of Communications and Marketing, Susan Pagano. It was Susan who came to me last fall with the idea of writing a blog. She had read a few things I had written and thought a blog would be a great fit for the school and me. Well at the time, I didn't really know what a blog was, but after a little research and some wonderful enthusiasm and coaching from Susan, we decided to give it a try and the rest has been history, as they say. Certainly, no pun intended. I would also like to give a special bit of thanks and good wishes for the health and speedy recovery of our beloved former Headmaster, Huson Gregory. Mr. Gregory went through a difficult spell in early December, but I know he is feeling much better now, because I am once again receiving a steady stream of emails from Cape Cod regarding life at the school and the progress of the Portledge ice hockey teams. Best to you, Hugh and Mimi, our thoughts are with you.
What's Going On with the Start of Winter Sports?
After a tremendous amount of organizational thought, and a huge amount of thanks goes out to Mrs. Zoe Schwam for all her help in putting together all of the logistics for the Winter Sports Season, we are off and running with some awesome athletic events. On almost any day throughout the winter you can catch some great Portledge athletes in action. So, I encourage you all to get down to the gym , or rink, or up to the lower school gym to catch some hoops, hockey or fencing, and if you are really committed, you can travel into NYC to see our wonderful squash team compete against the finest schools in the city. I will try to give a little overview of how all the upper school programs have started off their seasons, as well as mention some of the major games coming up for all the teams.
How Have Things Begun for the New Varsity Girls Basketball Coaches and Their Players?
Well, we are starting a new era in Girls Basketball at Portledge. After a successful run of four years Head Coach and Portledge alum Katie Henry passed on the leadership of the girls basketball program to Mr. Skip Amadio. Amadio has a good deal of prior coaching experience working with both girls and boys at the Varsity level during his teaching days in New Hampshire. Mr. Amadio and his top assistant, Mr. Nick Woll, who is also Head Coaching the JV Girls team, have brought a strong work ethic to the program. When you see this team play defense their desire and commitment to success is evident. On the floor, the unquestioned leader is point guard Monique Kelly. When the ball is in Kelly's hands the Lady Panthers are very solid. Her combination of playmaking and scoring ability has been a key to the team's early season success. Joining Kelly as Co Captain in Junior center Akanksha Trivedi. The "A Train", as she is known along coaches row, can dominate a game inside like no one else in IPPSAL can. Consistency will be her goal, as Akanksha continues her development as a top player in the league. Two other key players for the Lady Panthers are juniors Robyn Worrall and Claudia Rogers. These two share the ball handling responsibilities with Kelly, and provide a tremendous amount of energy on the floor. As their respective shooting touches improve, their play will be the key to a late season run by the Portledge girls. Senior Leah Heffernan has shown that when healthy, she can make a tough fifteen footer. Problem is that Leah's ankle has been a bit of a problem all season and has limited her opportunities to contribute. We are hoping that with a few weeks off, Leah will come back feeling stronger and making jumpers. Junior Marian Juste and Freshman Alexa Lodenquai round out what is a bit of a thin rotation for Mr. Amadio as he waits for other players to step forward and earn playing time at the Varsity level.
It was a fast start for the Lady Panthers as they began the season with back to back pre Thanksgiving, league, wins over Waldorf and Solomon Schechter. After some tough losses at the Martin Luther Tournament, and to defending League champ OSNA, the Portledge girls rebounded by defeating Knox in the semi final of the Portledge Invitational before losing a hard fought contest to a very experienced and polished Martin Luther team in an exciting Championship game. Martin Luther's veteran Head Coach, Ann Boyle, commented on how much the Portledge girls improved from one weekend till the next. This is certainly something that bodes well for the future. The Lady Panthers then went on to defeat Upper Room away from home in a critical early season league game, before dropping a tough friendly to Friends Academy at Wellington Gym. The girls broke for the holidays with a solid mark of 4 wins and 5 losses and real sense of confidence about the rest of the season. A spot in the IPPSAL playoffs, with hopes of competing in the IPPSAL Championship game, are some things that can be thought about. The Lady Panthers have two critical league games at the end of the first week back from break, both away from home on 1/8 & 1/9 at Lawrence Woodmere and Mill Neck, respectively. Yet another special thanks should go out to Miss Kelly Luken who has stepped forward to help Mr. Amadio and Mr. Woll with the Girls Basketball program on game days.
Is There Really JV Girls Basketball at Portledge?
The answer to that question is...absolutely!!! Under the direction of Mr. Nick Woll a dedicated group of 10-12 girls has been getting on the court, whenever they can, to prepare for competition in the challenging JV Bracket of PSAA Girls Basketball. While they have dropped their first two contests, look for this team to improve as the season goes on, and hopefully snatch a few hard fought wins from some of their very strong competition.
How Has the Varsity Boys Team Rebounded From Losing So Many Players to Graduation?
Last season the senior trio Kai Stoll, Reid Ericson and Ray Weinmann gave Portledge one of the best front lines in their demanding league. Having lost those players , as well as senior Dan Duffy, the Varsity Boys team was only returning two players, Senior Aaron Lee and Junior Mark Dourmashkin, who saw meaningful playing time last year. Thus, the term 'rebuilding' was being thrown around the gym, yet again. A funny thing has happened though as a group of Juniors that includes Ben Shapiro, Jon Brailsford, Bashir Desgrottes and Vishal Chinchwadkar has stepped up to provide the Panthers with some outstanding play. The inside play of Ben Shapiro has been particularly impressive as has been the strong leadership and great outside shooting from the aforementioned Lee and Dourmashkin, respectively. The Portledge faithful have been treated to some great basketball and there is no reason why it can't continue into the New Year. While their record is only 3 wins and 5 losses, some of the losses have come in extremely close games such as the Portledge Tournament final when Mark Dourmashkin's last second shot rang off the iron sealing a two point win for a talented Lake Grove team. This group is really coming together and I will not be surprised when they fight through a challenging league schedule to earn a coveted spot in the IPPSAL playoffs. Now that Upper Room's semi professional team is no longer competing in IPPSAL play, a playoff spot comes with a legitimate chance to be IPPSAL Champion. Some other key contributors will be Sohpomore forward and energy machine Adeola Adegbite, creative Sophomore forward/guard Steven Dourmashkin and slick shooting Freshman Nick Lobley, who was recently promoted from JV to provide a bit more outside scoring.
The Panthers have critical games with Lexington and Kew Forest on the road, 1/7 and 1/12 respectively, before returning to Wellington Gym for back to back games with Solomon Schechter and Valley Stream Christian on 1/14 and 1/15. Good luck to Mr. Sandoval and all the guys as they "shoot" for the playoffs.
What's Happening With JV Boys Hoops?
Everyone knows, and this is no joke, that the most difficult league of all is the IPPSAL JV Boys Basketball Bracket. It requires and 18 game regular season league schedule (+ the Portledge JV Boys always play the Columbia Prep JV Boys twice each winter) that is very challenging in that some of the teams are the varsity teams of smaller schools, as well as JV teams that come from schools where basketball is the ONLY major sport. That being said, every year Portledge is lucky to have Mr. Erion Clark to work with our JV Boys team and teach them the game of basketball. Mr. Clark does a great job of working the players around the court and getting them to understand the game. So far the team has 2 wins and 5 losses, but their overall play has been excellent. Many of the players, including Freshmen Ben Fortgang, Yousef Macer, Eric Diamataris, TJ Roberts, Zach Hescheles and Joey Brambil, have a bright future in the Portledge Basketball program. If you want to see some students have a great time and support each other to the fullest, come on down and see a JV Boys hoops game. You can catch the team at home on the 7th and the 8th of January.
Well......that's a lot of blogging. I'm going to post this and I'll be back tomorrow to discuss the upper school Ice Hockey, Fencing and Squash teams. All for now... and peace be with you.
What's Going On with the Start of Winter Sports?
After a tremendous amount of organizational thought, and a huge amount of thanks goes out to Mrs. Zoe Schwam for all her help in putting together all of the logistics for the Winter Sports Season, we are off and running with some awesome athletic events. On almost any day throughout the winter you can catch some great Portledge athletes in action. So, I encourage you all to get down to the gym , or rink, or up to the lower school gym to catch some hoops, hockey or fencing, and if you are really committed, you can travel into NYC to see our wonderful squash team compete against the finest schools in the city. I will try to give a little overview of how all the upper school programs have started off their seasons, as well as mention some of the major games coming up for all the teams.
How Have Things Begun for the New Varsity Girls Basketball Coaches and Their Players?
Well, we are starting a new era in Girls Basketball at Portledge. After a successful run of four years Head Coach and Portledge alum Katie Henry passed on the leadership of the girls basketball program to Mr. Skip Amadio. Amadio has a good deal of prior coaching experience working with both girls and boys at the Varsity level during his teaching days in New Hampshire. Mr. Amadio and his top assistant, Mr. Nick Woll, who is also Head Coaching the JV Girls team, have brought a strong work ethic to the program. When you see this team play defense their desire and commitment to success is evident. On the floor, the unquestioned leader is point guard Monique Kelly. When the ball is in Kelly's hands the Lady Panthers are very solid. Her combination of playmaking and scoring ability has been a key to the team's early season success. Joining Kelly as Co Captain in Junior center Akanksha Trivedi. The "A Train", as she is known along coaches row, can dominate a game inside like no one else in IPPSAL can. Consistency will be her goal, as Akanksha continues her development as a top player in the league. Two other key players for the Lady Panthers are juniors Robyn Worrall and Claudia Rogers. These two share the ball handling responsibilities with Kelly, and provide a tremendous amount of energy on the floor. As their respective shooting touches improve, their play will be the key to a late season run by the Portledge girls. Senior Leah Heffernan has shown that when healthy, she can make a tough fifteen footer. Problem is that Leah's ankle has been a bit of a problem all season and has limited her opportunities to contribute. We are hoping that with a few weeks off, Leah will come back feeling stronger and making jumpers. Junior Marian Juste and Freshman Alexa Lodenquai round out what is a bit of a thin rotation for Mr. Amadio as he waits for other players to step forward and earn playing time at the Varsity level.
It was a fast start for the Lady Panthers as they began the season with back to back pre Thanksgiving, league, wins over Waldorf and Solomon Schechter. After some tough losses at the Martin Luther Tournament, and to defending League champ OSNA, the Portledge girls rebounded by defeating Knox in the semi final of the Portledge Invitational before losing a hard fought contest to a very experienced and polished Martin Luther team in an exciting Championship game. Martin Luther's veteran Head Coach, Ann Boyle, commented on how much the Portledge girls improved from one weekend till the next. This is certainly something that bodes well for the future. The Lady Panthers then went on to defeat Upper Room away from home in a critical early season league game, before dropping a tough friendly to Friends Academy at Wellington Gym. The girls broke for the holidays with a solid mark of 4 wins and 5 losses and real sense of confidence about the rest of the season. A spot in the IPPSAL playoffs, with hopes of competing in the IPPSAL Championship game, are some things that can be thought about. The Lady Panthers have two critical league games at the end of the first week back from break, both away from home on 1/8 & 1/9 at Lawrence Woodmere and Mill Neck, respectively. Yet another special thanks should go out to Miss Kelly Luken who has stepped forward to help Mr. Amadio and Mr. Woll with the Girls Basketball program on game days.
Is There Really JV Girls Basketball at Portledge?
The answer to that question is...absolutely!!! Under the direction of Mr. Nick Woll a dedicated group of 10-12 girls has been getting on the court, whenever they can, to prepare for competition in the challenging JV Bracket of PSAA Girls Basketball. While they have dropped their first two contests, look for this team to improve as the season goes on, and hopefully snatch a few hard fought wins from some of their very strong competition.
How Has the Varsity Boys Team Rebounded From Losing So Many Players to Graduation?
Last season the senior trio Kai Stoll, Reid Ericson and Ray Weinmann gave Portledge one of the best front lines in their demanding league. Having lost those players , as well as senior Dan Duffy, the Varsity Boys team was only returning two players, Senior Aaron Lee and Junior Mark Dourmashkin, who saw meaningful playing time last year. Thus, the term 'rebuilding' was being thrown around the gym, yet again. A funny thing has happened though as a group of Juniors that includes Ben Shapiro, Jon Brailsford, Bashir Desgrottes and Vishal Chinchwadkar has stepped up to provide the Panthers with some outstanding play. The inside play of Ben Shapiro has been particularly impressive as has been the strong leadership and great outside shooting from the aforementioned Lee and Dourmashkin, respectively. The Portledge faithful have been treated to some great basketball and there is no reason why it can't continue into the New Year. While their record is only 3 wins and 5 losses, some of the losses have come in extremely close games such as the Portledge Tournament final when Mark Dourmashkin's last second shot rang off the iron sealing a two point win for a talented Lake Grove team. This group is really coming together and I will not be surprised when they fight through a challenging league schedule to earn a coveted spot in the IPPSAL playoffs. Now that Upper Room's semi professional team is no longer competing in IPPSAL play, a playoff spot comes with a legitimate chance to be IPPSAL Champion. Some other key contributors will be Sohpomore forward and energy machine Adeola Adegbite, creative Sophomore forward/guard Steven Dourmashkin and slick shooting Freshman Nick Lobley, who was recently promoted from JV to provide a bit more outside scoring.
The Panthers have critical games with Lexington and Kew Forest on the road, 1/7 and 1/12 respectively, before returning to Wellington Gym for back to back games with Solomon Schechter and Valley Stream Christian on 1/14 and 1/15. Good luck to Mr. Sandoval and all the guys as they "shoot" for the playoffs.
What's Happening With JV Boys Hoops?
Everyone knows, and this is no joke, that the most difficult league of all is the IPPSAL JV Boys Basketball Bracket. It requires and 18 game regular season league schedule (+ the Portledge JV Boys always play the Columbia Prep JV Boys twice each winter) that is very challenging in that some of the teams are the varsity teams of smaller schools, as well as JV teams that come from schools where basketball is the ONLY major sport. That being said, every year Portledge is lucky to have Mr. Erion Clark to work with our JV Boys team and teach them the game of basketball. Mr. Clark does a great job of working the players around the court and getting them to understand the game. So far the team has 2 wins and 5 losses, but their overall play has been excellent. Many of the players, including Freshmen Ben Fortgang, Yousef Macer, Eric Diamataris, TJ Roberts, Zach Hescheles and Joey Brambil, have a bright future in the Portledge Basketball program. If you want to see some students have a great time and support each other to the fullest, come on down and see a JV Boys hoops game. You can catch the team at home on the 7th and the 8th of January.
Well......that's a lot of blogging. I'm going to post this and I'll be back tomorrow to discuss the upper school Ice Hockey, Fencing and Squash teams. All for now... and peace be with you.
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