Greeley Pleased with Girls Basketball Season

John Alkalay's first game as the coach of the Horace Greeley varsity girls basketball team was against Class A power Lakeland.

"We thought we were in for a blowout loss to start the season," Alkalay said.

Instead, the Quakers only lost by 1. It was an eye-opener and a confidence booster that this relatively inexperienced group could compete with anyone, and that carried through the rest of the season.

Greeley finished the regular season 14-4, and then won its first-round playoff game before losing to Ursuline in the quarterfinals.

"We were thrilled with how the season went," Alkalay said. "There were a lot of question marks going into the season — if we'd be able to win with a new coach and a lot of new players — and a lot of players who didn't have key roles last year really did a terrific job of coming together as a team."

The Quakers won three straight after the Lakeland game and won the Byram Hills tournament without top player Yanna Jackson.

"The team really stepped up, which gave us even more confidence," Alkalay said.

After losing to Blind Brook, Greeley then won 10 games in a row, getting balanced scoring along the way from all of its eight regulars.

"That was our formula for winning," Alkalay said. "Different people stepped up in different games but we always had the balanced scoring and the teamwork."

Going into the Class AA sectional tournament as the No. 4 seed, Greeley then avenged its first-round playoff loss from last year with a 65-50 win over Suffern this season. Once again, six girls scored between six and 14 points in the win. The season finally came to a close on Feb. 17 when No. 5 Ursuline defeated the Quakers 56-47.

"The team was disappointed last year with losing in the first round, so winning in the sectionals meant a lot to them," Alkalay said. "It was the cherry on top for our season."

The Quakers were led by Jackson, a junior who Alkalay called the best center and the defensive player of the year in the conference. She averaged about 10 rebounds and three blocks a game and really set the tone on the interior.

A player on the verge of becoming a star is freshman Jackie Brett, who gave energy, scoring and ball handling and saved her best performances for the toughest opponents.

Senior point guard and captain Julia Kronenfeld gave steady play at the point guard position and was a critical leader. Fellow senior Sammi Re did the dirty work from her forward position, setting screens, grabbing rebounds, playing solid defense and sacrificing her scoring to benefit her teammates.

The fifth starter was sophomore Andi Picker, who brought defensive intensity, speed and energy and jump-started the transition game with steals and lay-ups.

The bench included senior guard Emily Taylor, who was tremendous cooling off hot shooters in Greeley's match-up zone; senior Nicole Berg, who led the conference with 34 three-pointers; and sophomore Issy Berkey, who brought toughness and scoring punch.

Seven different players led the team in scoring during the year.

"The season couldn't have gone better," Alkalay said. "I'm very happy with the way the kids played. They just came together as a team and everyone contributed."