Made the trip to Onondaga Community College - perhaps the best athletic facility in Central New York - for the tipoff of the 4th annual CNY Fall League coordinated by the Syracuse Nets. 13 boys teams are in the league, close to split between high school teams & AAU teams. 8 were on the schedule for today. This opener was more of a girls' day - the varsity girls side has 12 teams, 11 being high school squads (Syracuse Nets are the lone AAU team) representing Sections 3 & 4. With there being more varsity girls games than boys (10 to 4, and 1 of the 4 boys games was a forfeit), my thoughts are toward the girls side. What did I see?
- Seton Catholic (the Binghamton version) will be really difficult to contain, both in this league and in the winter. Having one dynamic player in the backcourt is difficult enough to stop. Having two that can coexist and play well with each other is a nightmare for opposing high schools. SCC has that with Lexi Levy and Hanna Strawn. They are no secret at this point. Levy was a 1st team all-state selection last year as a sophomore and has multiple scholarship offers in the bag. Strawn earned 13th team all-state honors as a freshman last season. Lexi was on a different level than everyone on opposing teams with her all-around skill. The perimeter & mid-range jumper, finishing ability, handle, court vision, and defensive ability were all on display. On the other side, Strawn was also knocking down the perimeter J with consistency, and as usual, the smallest person on the court showed the least fear. She got to the rim, finished through contact, wasn't afraid to get hit, and got after it on the defensive end using her quickness and good anticipation. Seton Catholic, a Class B in Section IV, took a pair of easy wins against Oswego (Section III's largest Class A) and Liverpool, Section III's 2nd largest Class AA.
- Speaking of Section IV Class B standouts... Susquehanna Valley junior Erin Nolan had possibly the most dominant performance of the day in a win over a "Pulaski" team that brought more Camden Blue Devils to OCC than Pulaski Blue Devils. The defending state champions in Class B pulled away for a 56-32 W, and Nolan, who has already given a verbal commitment to Division II power Bentley, controlled everything 15 feet and in. She finished with 24 points and may have pulled down a greater number of rebounds. She had 16 after I started counting, which was possibly 10 boards in. At around 6'1", she has the height, but it's not a dominant height. What she's best at it is using her frame to make space and position herself early. She's a smart & strong post player, and it translated into a dominant first game.
- There were a number of girls there that are gifted players... but none may be more of a natural to the game than Meg Hair. The Jamesville-Dewitt sophomore has a fluidity to her game that not many in upstate NY have... girl or boy. She can shoot the cheddar, has great court vision, can handle the ball against pressure, has a noticeably high basketball IQ, can lock up on defense and guard multiple positions, and is the most athletic girl on the court nearly every time she laces up. If we're filling out an application, the 'weakness' section would have N/A next to it. Meg also had a standout performance in her first game, highlighted by a bangup 2nd half in a semi-surprisingly close game against General Brown. The Watertown-area Class B was giving them everything they could ask for (more on that in a minute)... and that's when the Hair started flowing. She hit a few jumpers, got to the rim twice and finished, and started getting hands on passes & being disruptive defensively. J-D eventually won 55-49, and Hair dropped 24 of them. Hey, Section III... you have III more years of her!
- Speaking of General Brown, really impressive performance today in their two games. They played back-to-back Class A state finalist Jamesville-Dewitt tough for all 32 minutes, losing by 6. They followed it up by trouncing Frontier League opponent Thousand Islands 45-29 - by getting up 20+ in the 3rd quarter and letting the starters chill in the 4th quarter. A pair of sophomores I previously saw with the Syracuse Nets stood out for them - Chelsea VanTassel and Kylee Rosbrook. VanTassel is a phenomenal three-sport athlete in the North Country, also being one of the premier soccer and softball players in the area. She uses that all-around athleticism on the court well, impacting the game in a variety of ways. When her shot isn't falling (it wasn't against JD), she can still make her presence very much felt. When her shot is falling (it was against Thousand Islands), have fun. She plays a similar role for her team that Danielle Rauch does for her high school team - does some of everything. Rosbrook is the post compliment to VanTassel's wing. Kylee has a high motor, which serves her well as an undersized post at the moment. She did very well battling Jamesville-Dewitt's top post Julia Kelner despite giving up 3 inches. She had the size advantage against Thousand Islands, and that plus the work she put in made her impossible to deal with without doubling. She also makes a living at the free throw line, and can get herself 8-10 points each game from the charity stripe.
One week down in the Cuse... might see me here next Sunday too!
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