Girls basketball: Takeaways from the six-team 2024 Slam Dunk Showcase Tournament

WHITE PLAINS — It may be relatively early in the 2023-24 girls basketball season but the annual Slam Dunk Showcase Tournament at Westchester County Center provided some insights into who may be a force come playoff time.

Three girls games were part of this year's tournament schedule.

Below are recaps of the three.

Harrison, which fell in 2023 section final to Panas, beats it 55-46

The Harrison girls basketball team had a strong 2022-23 season.

But, as every Husky player and fan knows, it could have been far better had it not faced Panas.

Its 19-5 record included a 10-point, regular-season loss to the Panthers, then, despite being seeded No. 1 and the Panthers No. 6, a 50-47 Section 1 Class A championship loss.

Panas, of course, went on to win the state public school Class A title.

Harrison got to think about how it might have done the same if one or two plays had gone differently in that section final.

Saturday, the two teams returned to the site of that title game, the County Center.

And Harrison, this year playing in Class AA, emerged with a victory made all the sweeter in light of last year's final.

Displaying a balanced attack that successfully broke the renowned Panas press late in the game, the Huskies moved to 6-3 on the season with a 55-46 win.

“I think our chemistry is very good,” said senior Olivia Fernandez, who’ll play next year for Division I Bryant University. “We came in and played together and executed our plays. We were playing for something. We were playing for each other.”

The point guard had a strong game with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal.

But game MVP honors went to junior Mia Strazza.

She had a team-high 20 points, hitting from inside and out (she had four 3's), had six assists and also recorded two steals.

Two of her 3’s came in the third quarter when the Huskies, who were tied at 13 with the Panthers at the end of one quarter, expanded a 28-26 halftime lead to 43-37.

That quarter opened with Fernandez draining a 3 and Strazza following with her two before Sofia Tavarez (game-high 22 points) drove inside for a bucket for Panas.

Harrison’s main force inside was Stella Perini, who had 15 points, although her points also included a second-quarter 3.

Perini was big on the defensive boards, as well, with 10 rebounds.

And 5-10 eighth-grader Charlotte Hazelton played like a veteran with eight boards. She also had a key fourth-quarter bucket (four points in all) and a key assist in that quarter to help seal the game.

“We knew if we played together, we could get whatever we wanted,” said Strazza.

While Tavarez got her points and fellow Panther leader Cadance Nicholas reached double figures with 12 points and also had three assists and three steals, Strazza was clearly happy her team had limited the damage from those two quick guards.

“We kind of knew if we stay with Sofia and Cadance and stop and keep them out of the paint, we’ll do well,” she said.

While the Panthers got solid play from some other players (among them Kiara Williams with seven points and seven boards and Jillian Ciquina with six rebounds, four points and three assists) that wasn’t enough as Panas fell to 8-2 on the season.

Nicholas figured both teams left the court the better for having played — their only time due to Harrison's class move.

“We’re really excited every time we play Harrison. It’s good to play Harrison to see where we’re at. We just need to work harder in practice but (this game) helps both of us improve,” she said.

Deadly with 3's, ,New Fairfield routs Hen Hud 64-35

At the end of one quarter during Saturday’s Slam Dunk Showcase game between Hen Hud and New Fairfield, Connecticut, the game was a game.

Nip and tuck.

12-11 Hen Hud.

But in the second quarter, New Fairfield, paced by what Hen Hud coach Megan Boyle characterized as “lights out” shooting, ran away from the Sailors, who gave up four virtually uncontested 3’s and 23 points in all in the period, while going ice-cold offensively.

In fact, with only Kaitlyn Raguso putting the ball in the hoop, Hen Hud was outscored 23-6 in the period.

And it didn’t get better.

When the final horn sounded, the Rebels had raised their record to 6-2 with eight players scoring (three in double figures) in a 64-35 rout.

Hen Hud left the Westchester County Center knowing at least some of what it has to improve on.

Some of that was not a surprise.

Boyle pointed to her team relying too much on Raguso, who got into foul trouble and exited, albeit on a seemingly questionable call, early in the fourth quarter.

But no ref could be blamed for Hen Hud’s woes.

“I think the other kids, in tough games, resort back to only Kaitlyn (shooting),” Boyle said.

While eight players ended up scoring, Raguso was the only one in double figures with 13 points. Kayla McCarthy had eight but no one else scored more than four and three only had two and one player had one.

“We need (the rest) to get six-to-eight for a balance,” said Boyle, whose team was an abysmal 13-for-44 from the field on 2-pointers and four-for-17 on 3’s.

Meanwhile, New Fairfield put on a clinic, particularly in that second quarter when the Rebels pulled away by sinking three straight 3’s, one by Brenna Romanello and two by game MVP Kaitlyn Mangan, who had a game-high 16 points.

The Rebels finished 24-for-47 from 2-point land and 8-for-16 on 3’s.

Boyle said she employed three defenses in the game-changing second quarter but nothing worked.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said.

Kaitlyn Garbowski hit for 11 points for the Rebels and Caity Rea had 10.

New Fairfield also outrebounded Hen Hud 36-21 with Rea having a monster game with 15 boards.

Boyle suggested the only saving grace was falling at the County Center in January isn't the same as doing so later in the Section 1 Class A Final 4, which Hen Hud hopes to make.

The loss dropped Hen Hud to 6-3 on the season and things won’t getting immediately easier with defending state Class A public school champion Panas on the schedule Tuesday.

But Raguso is expecting her team to learn from Saturday.

“Our defense wasn’t the best and when they started hitting those 3’s, we kind of gave up and lost motivation. Yes, it was hard for us to score but we just went down a level and just need to rise,” she said.

And Raguso expects her squad to do that with a more balanced offense born of self-belief. “I tell them always to shoot. I believe in them. They just have to start believing in themselves,” Raguso said.

White Plains 57, Rye 50

At the end of White Plains’ 57-50 win over Rye one thing was clear.

Well, two.

White Plains isn’t the same White Plains team that won the Section 1 Class AA title last year and finished as state public school runner-up.

Not even close.

But here’s the second thing: Game by game, the Tigers, whose roster includes two eighth-graders, three freshmen and a couple of sophomores, are inching forward.

Both game MVP Sequoia Layne (15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, four blocks) and fellow senior Ineivi Plata (team-high 16 points, five assists, three steals) spoke of raising the basketball “IQ” of the squad’s younger players.

“We need (them to learn) little details,” said Plata, who hit her final basket on a long, perfect pass from Layne with 27.8 seconds to play.

“As a team, we’re starting to learn each other’s tendencies,” said Layne, who’ll play Division I volleyball for Boston College next fall.

What the final product will be is anyone’s guess but both Tiger stars appear optimistic even with their team moving up to the newly-created Class AAA and not having the height of their 2022-23 team.

“Everybody hustles. Everybody works hard,” said Layne.

“We can go far,” Plata predicted, indicating she believes her team can win another Section 1 crown.

The win left White Plains, which saw 10 players get on the scoresheet, at 7-3.

With the loss, Rye slipped to 6-3.

But the Class A squad was in the game for a long time.

And it finished just a few baskets shy despite a couple of its top players, junior Phoebe Greto (game-high 17 points and seven rebounds) and sophomore Paige Tepedino (10 points, four rebounds) getting into foul trouble and ultimately fouling out late.

The 5-10 Greto was a force in the paint and her spinning layup, which became a three-point play as she was fouled and hit her free throw, pulled Rye to within three at 43-40 with 3:31 to play.

But Plata responded by drawing a foul on Greto (then her fourth) 20 seconds later with a strong baseline move and she hit both ensuing foul shots to restore the Tiger lead to five.

Layne, who got stronger as the game went on, then recorded a block and followed that with her own inside drive to make it a seven-point game.

Rye, which hit five 3’s with Molly Kennedy (12 points) and Tepedino both draining a pair, had jumped out to an 8-2 first-quarter lead but a 3-pointer before the end of the quarter by Tess Haddad (six points, both on 3’s) put White Plains up 12-11.

The score was 18-all at the half before White Plains erased a three-point Rye lead and pulled ahead to stay with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.

Layne had a key assist to Paige Kearon, whose only basket put White Plains up 31-30. It entered the fourth quarter leading 36-31.

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A 3-pointer by scrappy and promising freshman McKenna Austin (five points) gave the Tigers a 43-35 lead with inside of five minutes to play.

That basket proved large with Tepedino hitting a couple of foul shots and Greto pulling her squad to within three with her three-point play before White Plains put the game away.

Garnet Stella Maresca finished with five points and six boards and Isabella McGuire was second on the Tigers in rebounds with four. She also had a pair of free throws.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls basketball: Takeaways from the Slam Dunk Tournament