Girls Basketball: 2011 Syosset Preview

2009-10 Record: 10-8 - After winning the county title the year before, the Braves made it to the second round of the 2009-10 county playoffs, losing to eventual champions Baldwin.

Head Coach: Doug Schumacher (12 years experience, second year as head coach).

Assistant Coach: Diane Malley.

Top Players: Victoria Savarese (senior), Victoria Ciriarella (senior), Katelyn Lesse (senior), Lauren Maturo (senior).

All four of these seniors are returning starters from last season, and Schumacher explained why the team was built around them and their considerable skills.

Maturo in particular was singled out by Schumacher for her contributions to the Braves' recent success on the court.

"Maturo is probably our best player," Schumacher said. "She's our tallest, strongest, and most aggressive girl, in addition to our best rebounder. Maturo just gets better and better every day, so that's the reason why we should be better than last year."

Schumacher also spoke of the individual skills of his three other star players, and why their combination will make the Braves hard to beat this year.

"Savarese brings the most energy to the court, both in practice and in games," he said. "Ciriarella is steady and composed, but her hands are everywhere; she gets steals when you think she's not even near you. Her length, and her ability to drive into the basket and make shots in traffic."

"And Lesse, along with Ciriarella, is our best three-point shooter," Schumacher added.

Expectations: After winning the county championship in 2008-09, the Braves saw their top four starters graduate. Thus, their 2009-10 season could be seen as a rebuilding effort. Despite this, Schumacher was pleased with how his team did and, as his players are now more seasoned, he is looking for them to accomplish even more this year.

"I would hope to make playoffs again, like we did last year," he said. "I'd just like to go a little deeper into the playoffs this year than the year before...who knows? You never know, you get into the playoffs, you never know what can happen."

Big Games: While Schumacher didn't point out and specific rivalries between Syosset and other school districts, he did discuss the upcoming , taking place on December 10 and 11 at Syosset High School. 

"We have the tournament coming up Friday and Saturday," he said. "That will be here. We open up with Plainview, and if we beat them, then we'll play the winner of MacArthur and Mineola."

News & Notes: Regardless of the fact that his team has not played one regulation game yet (the official season starts next week), Schumacher already appeared to be brimming with pride over his girls, and is confident that they will go far on the court in the year ahead.

"They're a great, great bunch of kids," he said. "They work hard every day, they're fun to be around, so it's an absolute pleasure to get to work with them on a daily basis."

Roster: A full team roster was unavailable as of press time, but will be added to this article once it has been provided.