Amani Tatum described the early season as one of learning and adapting for her and her Archbishop Molloy teammates.
“Everything is new,” the junior guard said. … “Just adjusting is one of the biggest things.”
The now-veteran club has a new head man in Scott Lagas, who took over after Tom Catalanotto was let go by the school in June after winning the state Federation Class A tile. The former C.W. Post women’s assistant has revved up practices in which junior forward Carolyn Gallagher said they are being pushed to their limits and put a new up-tempo system in place. Lagas is trying to get the most out of a team that returns four players who all saw starting time, including two of the city’s best in Tatum and Gallagher.
“We talked about striving for greatness every day,” Lagas said. “The other thing we talk about every day is not to settle for average. That’s the biggest thing. We don’t talk about last year at all. Being 12-12 last year, that’s average.”
The Stanners, who finished fifth in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I last season, suffered a significant early season blow when junior point guard Alexa (Weazel) Dietrich broke her wrist during practice and 6-foot-1 forward Dallas Pralle, who had summer shoulder surgery, broke her hand. Both will hopefully be back in January, according to Lagas. He doesn’t want the explosive Tatum to feel she needs to make up for Dietrich’s loss all by herself.
“For me it’s a big loss,” Tatum said of pass-first Dietrich. “It’s weird in a way not to have her on the court.”
She believes there are a number of candidates who could fill in for her at the other guard spot. Senior Kamille Ejerta came on strong and Lagas is looking for her to be more than just a sharpshooting spark plug. Daniela Arias could also see some time, but long, athletic and smart sophomore Nyasha Irizarry is expected to emerge as a major force at the 2, 3 or 4 spot.
“She had five 3s,” Gallagher said of Irizarry after a scrimmage against South Shore. “That’s amazing. We really need that.”
Senior forward Patti Dorgler, who stands 5-foot-8, has been filling in for Pralle. She’s brought, hustle, energy and a presence on the boards. Dorgler, who Lagas calls one of his biggest surprises, will need to aid Gallagher in the paint as she tries to build off a monster sophomore season. She capped the year with 23 points and eight rebounds against Peekskill in the state Federation title game and had a career-high 30 points versus Holy Trinity in the CHSAA Class A state semifinals.
Lagas applied for the job three years ago when Catalanotto was hired. Lagas believes he wasn’t ready then, but his time as a college assistant taught him about equal accountability for everyone involved with the program. When he took the job, he talked about competing with the best teams in Brooklyn/Queens Division I.
The new coach has set smaller day-to-day goals so far. The Stanners are supposed to be one of the league’s most dangerous squads and players are buying into Lagas’ mantras of striving for greatness and outworking other teams.
“We want to take our game to another level to show that we are just not a certain type of team and do the unthinkable,” Tatum said. “Do what other people think we can’t do.”
