Scholars Academy was the Cinderella story of last year, winning a PSAL Class B championship in just its second year as a varsity program. This season, the Seawolves were supposed to fall back to the pack, graduating seven seniors, including star Becky Moers.
“Joe Lunati, my athletic director, and I were talking before the season,” coach Janet Kleiner said. “We said, if we can go 7-7 this year, it’ll be fine with basically a new team. Who would have thought all of this?”
“All of this” is another PSAL Queens B East title and potentially another very high seed in the upcoming playoffs. Scholars Academy did slip up against Springfield Gardens on Thursday, but defeated fellow ‘B’ standout Bushwick on Saturday at the PSAL showcase. The only game the Seawolves lost before this week was Dec. 2 against Law Enforcement when star sophomore Jessica Glaz was on a family vacation to Disney World.
Winning has beget winning even for this infant program. Scholars Academy’s success last year has helped its recruiting from within its own building and otherwise. The Rockaway institution also houses a grade school and middle school. Freshmen Emma Michaels, now a starter, and sixth man Serena Yannello stayed at Scholars for high school to play basketball for the budding program. Of course, the school’s excellent academics don’t hurt either.
“They went to both the semis and the finals at St. Francis College and they decided to stay,” Kleiner said.
The coach credited the leadership of Glaz and Taylor Gallagher, the lone returning regulars, as the catalyst for the team’s winning this year. Glaz is the loud, outgoing one, while Gallagher is reserved and leads by example. The combination has been invaluable.
“Having won a city championship, the hunger is always there to repeat, to win every game,” Kleiner said.
Defense, though, is what the longtime coach hangs her hat on. She feels like there isn’t a team in the ‘B’ league that plays as intense defensively as Scholars does with its pressure, traps, zone and straight man-to-man. Like she did last year, Kleiner has lauded the Rockaway community for placing an emphasis on girls athletics and the support her players’ parents and families have given them.
“I continue to say it: In that part of Queens, parents and grandparents expect the same things athletically from their daughters as they do their sons,” she said. “I take no credit. A lot of these kids have been playing together since second and third grade.”
Once again, Scholars Academy is a favorite to win the ‘B’ title unexpectedly. This group has no seniors and Kleiner wants to move up to Class A next year. In the meantime, a repeat could be in the cards.
“I don’t know how far we could go,” Kleiner said. “I didn’t know that last year either. But everything fell into place.”
Lincoln stuns South Shore: Just over a week ago, Lincoln seemed to be on the ropes. Star wing Erica Juarbe was still out with a broken bone in her foot. The Railsplitters were losing to the good teams in PSAL Class AA and struggling in the winnable games.
What a difference a few days – and Juarbe – makes.
On Wednesday, Lincoln defeated host South Shore, 47-42. The Vikings have been ranked No. 1 in the PSAL by The Post for most of the season and reached as high as No. 2 in the city rankings. Juarbe, the Chestnut Hill-bound standout, had 17 points in her third game back and Shaquella Figueroa and Simone Roberts each had 10 points.
“She can do anything,” Lincoln coach Titi Hodges said. “If I put in another smaller guard, Erica can go down to the four or five spot. Wherever she goes she can score from that spot.”
The Railsplitters will have to deal with another loss, though. Janera Roper, one of the team’s best scorers, is done for the year due to academic ineligibility. Hodges hopes her team has only gotten tougher dealing with adversity.
“I think that loss just made the girls work harder in practice,” she said. “It was no secret that we might be without her.”
Warriors big making strides: Curtis is a young up-and-coming team know for its guards. Kristen Olsen and Shannon McGill are two of the top pure shooters. The undersized Warriors could have some help in the middle developing with the improvement of sophomore post Zuniette Adeniji.
“She’s getting better,” Curtis coach Bob Daggett said.
The legendary coach started her in the team’s first five games, but the 5-foot-11 post, who had limited basketball experience, just wasn’t ready. Adeniji has become a factor recently. She had six points and eight rebounds last weekend at the Kennedy Challenge in a loss to Francis Lewis. Adeniji was setting screens to free up open teammates and was active on defense. The Warriors face rival MSIT on Monday, needing a win to earn a share of the PSAL Staten Island a crown.
“She’s come along, which is great,” Daggett said. “She can come off the bench and give us a lift, which is tremendous.
Lewis shows signs of improvement: A New Year has brought a new look and level of play to Francis Lewis. The Patriots went through some internal turmoil in the early season with people falling into rolls and learning how to play together. They didn’t produce results up their potential.
“If you take away the Truman game we have been playing better since the January break,” coach Steve Tsai said. “Everyone is sharing the ball.”
That’s manifested itself, starting with an impressive 2-0 weekend at the Kennedy Challenge. Lewis held off Staten Island power Curtis and handled Holy Trinity, one of Long Island’s top clubs. The big three of Tyese Purvis, Jasmine Davis and Jazmine Hamlet all had big weekends.
The ball and the scoring was being shared and they dug deep on defense. The Patriots followed that up with wins against Grand Street and Midwood and a one-point loss to 13-time defending PSAL champion Murry Bergtraum. They still have rematches with Kennedy and Bergtraum remaining in league.
“This is so much different than earlier,” Tsai said.
