Get excited.
If there was ever a reason to go out and see some girls basketball, the time is this weekend. The CHSAA’s version of March Madness – the Class AA, A and B state tournaments – commence over the next few days and there is sure to be thrills and high drama all around.
It starts with the ‘AA’ and ‘A’ quarterfinals Friday night. None of the city teams favored to make the semifinals – St. Peter’s, Christ the King, St. Michael Academy and Bishop Ford – have an easy road.
St. Peter’s plays Buffalo champion Nichols, a team that no one down here knows much about, which should be in Nichols’ favor. Christ the King faces off with St. John the Baptist – a team that can never be counted out if Ted Oberg is on the bench.
St. Mike’s has to deal with a highly motivated and hungry Mary Louis team, which has been playing with incredible emotion since coach Joe Lewinger’s 4-year-old daughter, Madison, was rediagnosed with cancer. And Bishop Ford must contain Kellenberg and Marist-bound star Emma O’Connor. The Firebirds ended the Falcons’ season in the CHSAA Class A state final in 2008-09.
No matter who makes it through, the semifinal doubleheader at Christ the King on Saturday night (5 p.m. and 7 p.m.) is going to be bananas. Storylines are everywhere.
Can St. Peter’s coach Bob Daggett make his first trip to Glens Falls in the top classification? Will Christ the King, who has owned the Fed, make its triumphant return in the town’s final year of hosting? Can St. Mike’s erase its underachieving regular season and win it all again? Can Bishop Ford shock the city for a third time? Or will Mary Louis become the heartwarming Cinderella story?
That’s just the ‘AA’ bracket. There is plenty of intrigue in the ‘A’ also. Archbishop Molloy has a renewed look and could salvage an up and down season with a championship and trip upstate. Moore Catholic is as good as any team in the draw, but without the hype because it resides in Staten Island. Cardinal Spellman is a dark horse and St. Francis Prep, which meets Moore in the quarterfinals, has had big wins this season. It wouldn’t be impossible to imagine it happening again.
In the Class B tournament, St. John’s Prep and Fontbonne Hall, the Brooklyn/Queens Division I tournament and regular-season champions, respectively, still remain. The Red Storm have had a rollercoaster ride of a season and a trip upstate would be nice for a player like Lashonda Hathorne, one of the more underrated girls in the city. Fontbonne, on the other hand, is a team filled with stars from other sports that coach Steve Oliver has expertly pieced together. The Bonnies can’t be considered the favorites, but they’re not going to fear the stage by any means.
So since this is the CHSAA girls basketball version of the NCAA Tournament, NYPost.com will be providing team coverage. Not a single game involving a New York City team will go uncovered. My fellow girls hoops writer Joe Staszewski and I have enlisted the help of boys writers Dylan Butler and Zach Braziller, both of whom will be at sites Friday and Saturday. Also, make sure to check out our exclusive live blogs from the ‘AA’ games Saturday and Sunday.
As always, NYPost.com is your No. 1 source for NYC girls basketball information. If you can’t make it to the games – though you should – keep it parked right here.
