Registration continues to be open for girls' fall basketball, and by securing another gym, we should be able to accommodate more players, this year. This is our 5th season of the program, and we continue to hit registration highs; we are running ahead of last year's pace, when we had to create a wait-list in 2 of the 3 leagues in the program, because of over-subscription. We urge anyone interested to sign-up, to make sure there is a slot.
The program will play games only out of the Chastain gym, Holy Innocents gym and Galloway gym. Practices are also either at the Chastain gym or other, local gyms. Schedulers work hard to minimize scheduling conflicts, especially with fall softball.
Commissioner Allan Gottlieb promises another season of skill development; fun; hard work; and excitement, and we look forward to seeing another great season of girls’ basketball at NYO. Critical dates for families to know are as follows:
Sunday August 11th - mandatory tryouts
Saturday August 17th - practices begin
Tuesday September 2nd - games begin
Additionally, league structure is as follows:
Rookie League - ages 8 and 9. Play with a 9 foot basket.
Major League - ages 10 and 11. Play with a 10 foot basket
WNBA League - ages 12, 13 and 14.
Requests to play up or down will be considered based on space in the leagues.
Please address any questions you might have to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and we will respond as quickly as we can.
MAJORS: BEARS RIDE TENACIOUS DEFENSE TO CHAMPIONSHIP
This game was a classic matchup, that would be decided by which team could impose their will on the other. Would it be the speed and athleticism of the Bears or the rebounding prowess and raw power of the Cougars?
In the end it was the Bears tenacious defense and constant ball pressure which proved to be the difference in their run to the championship. This game started out slowly and was a back in forth slugfest; at halftime the Cougars led 14-12. In the second half the Bears began to turn the tables and appeared to wear down and frustrate their opponent, never allowing the Cougars to get comfortable on offense, while going on a 10-3 run in the 3rd quarter which sent them into the final quarter up 5. The Cougars attempted to apply their own pressure defense but the Bears were always able to find the open girl and capitalize. Ultimately, it was the great ball movement and outside shooting of the Bears that led to the 32-21 victory.
Tyler Brazle helped keep the game close with 13 points for the Cougar, while Jayden Worswick and Gracie Taylor each chipped in with 4 points.
Tyler McCamey had 16 huge points to lead the charge but the balanced scoring that involved all the other Bears players: Gracie Hudgins, Maggie Graham, Sarah Fuller, Lexi Baker, Lily Mason, Abby Testani and Aubrey Vaughn made this the ultimate team victory.
Congratulations to Coach David Baker, staff and team on an excellent championship performance and a well deserved Majors Title and a special thanks to all the coaches and volunteers who helped make this a very memorable girls basketball season.
We are now down to four teams left in the WNBA NYO Girls basketball playoffs. Last night's scores (in very contrasting games) were as follows:
Liberty 18 - Mystics 8
Lynx 47 - Shock 31
The first game featured a defensive battle with points difficult to come by. The tempo was slow and shots were just not falling. The Liberty which finished the regular season in second place with a 9 -1 record played a zone defense and forced the Mystics to settle for outside shots. Unfortunately for the Mystics, their perimeter shooting went cold and they could only muster 8 points for the evening. It appeared that the Mystics may have a chance to attack the basket when the Liberty's center fouled out with about four minutes to play but they were unable to take advantage of the situation as the rest of the Liberty clamped down on defense.
The second game featured the regular season champs, the Shock, against the eighth seeded, Lynx. This game was a complete contrast to the first. On defense the Lynx employed a box and one (and what occasionally looked like a triangle and two) to slow down Caitlin Felts (12 points), the Shock's primary offensive weapon. On offense the Lynx employed a relentless attack by pushing the ball up the court at every chance. The fast breaks were led by the Ross sisters (Kayla Ross 19 points; Julia Ross 17 points) and Reese Damm (7 points). They either converted the lay ups or many of the free throw attempts that resulted from the attacks. The Shock's center Elizabeth Olsen (10 points) fouled out early in the second half which allowed the Lynx to step up their attack another notch. It appears that the Lynx "Cinderella" has shown up to October Madness.
Tonight's semifinal games feature the #2 seed Liberty vs the #6 seed Mercury at 6:30pm and #8 seed Lynx vs the #5 seed Sky at 7:45pm.
The NYO Girls basketball Majors Final four is now set as the Bears and Knights advanced to Sunday play with big wins on Thursday night. In the opener, Coach David Baker must have organized a TopHat “skip day” as his normally shorthanded crew showed up in full force. Gracie Hudgins(8) Sarah Fuller(8) and Tyler McCamey (7) combined for 23 of the Bears 27 points to overcome the good luck orange basketball tie (we hope he didn’t wear it to work first) of Raiders coach and league commissioner Allan Gottlieb. On a positive note this will free up Commissioner Gottlieb to focus on his core competency of making sure the rest of the playoffs go off without a hitch.
In the nightcap, the more typical NYO drama ensued with the fourth seeded Knights rallying from a 26-22 fourth quarter deficit by holding the Scots without a field goal for the final 7 minutes on their way to a well earned 30-27 victory. Isabel Sumardi led the Knights with 16 big points, bringing rain from the skies on a varied number of deep high arching bank shots and strong drives to the basket. But it was the late game of heroics of Ciara Smith, who scored the tie-breaking basket and clinching free throw in the last minute, as part of her 12 points on the night, that finally allowed Coaches Berg and Smith to exhale.The Scots, who struggled to score most of the season, looked like they were on their way to victory after 3 quarters with a season high scoring output. Balanced scoring from Daniella Lopez, Caroline Hereford, Riley Patton and a burst from Mason McGarrity put the Scots in a great position to win, until the fateful fourth quarter scoring drought ended their chances and season.
The final four matchups should bring more drama as the Knights move on to face the regular season champion Cougars, who held off a tough Wildcat challenge on Tuesday while the Bears advance to face the Cinderella story of the playoffs, the Lions, who rode 15 points from Ann Rafeedie en route to a first round upset of the #2 seed War Eagles.
Please come out to support the league on Sunday for what promises to be a great day of basketball.
The regular season champion Lions (11-1), pictured above with their trophies, staged a furious rally in the final minutes to defeat the Knights, 18 - 14 in the NYO Rookie Basketball Championship game, played last night at NYO.
The Lions led 4-2 after the first quarter and 8-3 at halftime. The resilient Knights, coached by Steven Silverstein and Bill Klein, refused to yield and battled back to take the lead 11-10 after three quarters. Caroline Berkey, Ella Partlowe, Hanna Pagano and Caitlyn Surdykowski each scored 2 points for the Knights in the 3rd quarter. Caitlyn Surdowkowski made a 3 point play midway through the 4th quarter to give the Knights a late 14-12 lead.
After Lions coach JP Vincent called a timeout with 4:28 to go, Kate Reddy, the game high scorer with 8 points, took over. Kate scored 6 points in the final 2 minutes before fouling out with 17 seconds left in the game. Ashley Mitchell and Olivia Bailey each scored 4 points for the Lions, with Hanna Vincent adding 2 points.
Caitlyn Surdowkowski was the Knights leading scorer with 6 points, while Caroline Berkey had 17 rebounds and 4 points.
Congratulations to coach Vincent and the champion Lions !!!
