Irvington To Play White Plains In Slam Dunk Challenge

For a star-encrusted Irvington team with gaudy stats and lofty aspirations to 
hang its second consecutive New York State championship banner, an early season barometer game begins Wednesday at the Westchester County Center.

The Lady Bulldogs meet White Plains at the County Center at 2:15 p.m. Dec.29.

The reigning New York State Champions in Class B return to the prestigious Slam
Dunk Challenge, the tournament during which the team members were handed their lone loss of last season's storybook campaign.

The Bulldogs won the Class B state and federation championship and went undefeated against Section 1 competition.

The game was originally slated for Sunday but everything has been postponed due to the inclement weather and snow-blanketed Westchester streets.

Last season, Irvington lost in what was an absolute Wild, Wild, West shootout to Class AA power Kingston. The backcourt tandem of Lisa Bucci and Riley Harrington, a pair of savvy veterans who had played under the legendary (longest tenured coach in Section 1) Gina Maher since their middle school days, opened up Irvington's perimeter game.

Dialing in from downtown and getting free for open layups, Bucci and Harrington helped Irvington seize a 48-40 edge. Tara Gabelman, who now plays collegiately at Connecticut College, was also a catalyst as she drained a slew of jumpers.

Then a late Kingston rally, fueled by the electrifying play of Rachel Coffey, helped expunge the demon that no other team in Section 1 could.

There's an old cliche that Rome wasn't built in a day. While on paper it seemed it would be a year of rebuilding and reloading for the defending champions, it has been far from it.

The Bulldogs replenished the system when they netted Brittany Lai, a highly-touted transfer from Edgemont. Lai has been an immediate presence orchestrating the offensive symphony and the Bulldogs are off to a 5-1 start. Lai developed a rapport with Marley Giddens and Alexis Martins, having played with and against both current teammates on the AAU circuit since they were in elementary school.

The Bulldogs earned a statement win when they trounced perennial power Mount Vernon, 85-43, back on Dec. 11.

Their lone loss came at the hands of Peekskill, which earned a berth in the Section 1 championship game last season.

Alexis Martins has established herself as the focal point for the Bulldogs. Martins is averaging 19.8 points through the last two games.