PARK SLOPE, BK-In many aspects, it’s a new beginning for the Berkeley Carroll women’s basketball program. Without former starters Keyanka Bailey and Tess Salvatore, the Lady Lions are now led by lone senior Olivia Wilson along with returning starters Sarah Paller and Morgo Miller.
That’s not the only change with a new coach at the helm in Sydney Blumstein, who takes over for Morgan Sevigny, who went into her own personal fitness business. In their first challenge of many, the Berkeley Carroll Varsity Lady Lions were successful yesterday in their season opener- posting a 52-37 win over Little Red School House And Elisabeth Irwin High School at the winner’s gym in Park Slope.
Coach Sidney got solid efforts from all six players with each contributing on the stat sheet. Led by Wilson’s 12 along with game high 22 rebounds and eight steals, the Lady Lions sported three in double figures, including Paller finishing with 12 while Miller netted 11 in the 15-point home win.
Despite playing six, BC got out of the gate quickly by scoring the game’s first seven before LREI got untracked. First-year starter Becca Bender scored all five of her points in the opening quarter. She knocked down a three and also hit a long two to help boost the Lady Lions, who led most of the way.
To the Manhattan school’s credit, they fought hard with a strong second stanza that featured a lot of whistles, turnovers and jump balls. LREI was led by the supreme effort of Jacey, who paced everyone with 18 while teammate Lily added 10. The dynamic duo combined for 28 of their 37, doing most of their damage in transition where they cashed in on some sloppy play from BC. Along with improved defense, they turned around the first half even edging ahead by a deuce with a couple of minutes left. However, the play of Miller was instrumental with the third-year Lady Lion hitting consecutive tough shots to put her team up by four at the break.
Whatever was said at intermission worked because Berkeley Carroll made a nice adjustment in a dominant third quarter that saw them outscore LREI 16-6 to steer ahead by 14 with eight minutes left. Paying closer attention to Jacey with emphasis from Coach Blumstein not to give her room, the Lady Lions forced a slew of turnovers and converted them in transition thanks to the aggressive ball-hawking style of senior leader Wilson. Olivia scored 10 of her 12 during a run that featured some nifty passing with her and Miller working textbook give-and-gos for easy finishes.
The play was contagious with second-year Lady Lion Olivia Saleh stepping up as a valuable sixth man by scoring on a putback and also during a break. She did a good job on the glass, providing a lift. She also hit a pair of free throws to finish with six as did junior starter Mia Kellman, who got her half dozen towards the hoop. Paller spread her 12 out highlighted by a couple of nice runners. The third-year starter played an all around game, scoring, rebounding and staying composed.
Trailing by 14, LREI never gave up. They methodically whittled it down to six by scoring eight of the first 10 in the fourth quarter. But when the chips were down, Miller answered with another timely hoop as did her teammates. Paller and Kellman also were involved as BC closed it out 12-2 to earn their first win of 2011-12.
Boys To Scrimmage Tuesday: Both the Boys JV and Varsity will host scrimmages at the BC Athletic Center later today. The JV faces Global Studies while a senior oriented Varsity Lions tests Marta Valle High with action set for 4.
