Corinne Feller Memorial Tournament Semifinals: Burke Knocks Off Marlboro, Hosts Run To W

November 23, 2019

It may have been the Saturday night of what I've called 'scrimmage week', but at Valley Central, they were playing games that counted on the record. The 20th Annual Corinne Feller Memorial Tip-Off Tournament effectively tipped off the regular season in Section 9, with Class B foes Marlboro & Burke Catholic starting it up and AA counterparts Middletown & host Valley Central finishing it off.


Burke Catholic 52, Marlboro 40

A competitive battle for 24 minutes went in Burke Catholic's favor in the final 8, as they matched their scoring output through 3 quarters with a 26 point outburst to break away with a season opening victory.

A back-and-forth start saw the lead change hands five times alone with three ties in the 1st half, and it showcased contrasting styles with Marlboro trying to get paint touches & attack the rim while Burke Catholic focused on getting perimeter looks against Marlboro's zone defense. An Erin Lofaro (Marlboro 2020; UMass Lowell signee) bucket gave the Dukes a 14-12 lead after 1 quarter. After younger sister Lizzy Lofaro (Marlboro 2021) scored to start the 2nd, Marlboro went over 7 minutes without scoring again. Although shots weren't falling for Burke in the quarter either - there was a scoreless stretch of 5:09 for both teams - they grabbed a 3 point lead late in the half before Briana Bernicker (Marlboro 2021) canned a top of the key three to beat the 2nd quarter buzzer, tying the game at 19.

Lizzy Lofaro led Marlboro with 15 points in their opener.

The tug-of-war continued in the 3rd quarter. Marlboro scored the first 4 of the quarter on Erin Lofaro baskets as the Dukes came out of the locker room attempting to get it into the post. Burke scored the next 5, briefly regaining the lead on a Brenna Costello (Burke Catholic 2020) bucket, but Liz Lofaro & Bernicker answered to give Marlboro a 4 point lead once more late in the quarter. The tide would quickly turn though, as the Eagles were able to make a big push from there. A 6-0 run split between the 3rd & 4th quarters gave them the lead, with Costello scoring to put them up 30-28, and Marlboro's problems only intensified as Erin Lofaro saw an end to her night due to fouls shortly thereafter. They briefly tied it on a Hannah Polumbo (Marlboro 2024) layup, but a Caileigh Costello (Burke Catholic 2020) three at the 6:40 mark gave Burke the lead for good. Another 7-0 spurt, 5 coming from Brenna Costello, extended their run to 18-5 and lead to 42-33. Marlboro attempted to make one last push, with a three from Liz Lofaro - who took on a much larger role offensively with Erin on the bench - cutting their deficit to 42-37, but 6 straight Burke Catholic points capped with another Caileigh Costello trey at the 1:01 mark put it out of reach, as they picked up a quality early season victory.

Brenna Costello dropped a game high 20 in the win for Burke Catholic.

Two last names accounted for over 2/3 of the game's scoring - Costello & Lofaro. Brenna Costello dropped a game high 20 points for Burke Catholic, 9 coming in the 4th quarter. Caileigh Costello joined her in double digits, scoring 8 each in the 1st & 4th quarters to account for her 16. On Marlboro's end, Lizzy Lofaro led the way with 15 points, and Erin (along with Briana Bernicker) added 8.


Valley Central 52, Middletown 24

The nightcap lacked any sort of the dramatic flare that the night's opener provided, as host Valley Central had just about put this game away by intermission en route to a notch in the W column in their opener.

It was a pretty sloppy start on both ends, but before the 1st quarter was over, Valley Central started to work the nerves out, executing in the half-court and turning defense into transition offense. A 6-5 game quickly became 16-5 by the end of the 1st, as VC ran off 10 straight points in the final 2:05 of the stanza. The 2nd quarter held the same storyline as the 1st - after a pair of Kiki Kennedy (Middletown 2020) threes held their deficit at 11, they were held scoreless for the last nearly 5 minutes of the half, with Valley Central scoring the last 8 of the half to extend their lead to 30-11.

Erin-Rose Cooney led a balanced VC group with 11 points in their victory.

Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed, as Middletown didn't get closer than 17 in the 2nd half. A 7-0 run in response - and as the rest of this game went, coming from 3 different VC scorers - ran the margin to 37-13 in the 3rd, and Valley Central eventually led by as much as 32 in the final minutes.

A very balanced Valley Central scoring effort saw all 9 active players score at least 4 points. Erin-Rose Cooney (VC 2020) led them with 11 points, and Shaina Cooney (VC 2021) followed her with 8. For the Middies, Alyze Skyers (Middletown 2022) led the way with 7 points.

Kiarra Kennedy had 6 points on a pair of threes for Middletown.

Now, as was the case for all of these posts, you know what time it is...

#JeffsThoughts

- November basketball is what it is. Can't put too much stock into results two weeks into a four-month basketball season. I'm certainly not. That being said, that doesn't diminish that Burke Catholic picked up a quality win to start their season, knocking off defending S9 Class B champion Marlboro with a dominant 4th quarter. They did a good job playing to their strengths against the Marlboro zone, moving the ball and getting good looks for their guards & giving Brenna/Caileigh Costello room to work. When an opportunity to seize control came about due to Lofaro's foul trouble, they jumped on it, outscoring Marlboro 22-12 with Erin on the bench. Quality win for Burke Catholic, and I imagine a confidence booster as they jump head first into their season.

- I've mentioned Brenna & Caileigh Costello quite a bit in this post - here's one more. I don't get deep into Section 9 (read Orange County) as much as I'd like to or probably should, so this was my first time seeing Burke and I believe my first time seeing them. I left pretty impressed with them, from skill level to court presence. They have clear differences in their game - Caileigh has a stronger build, Brenna looks a little more long & lanky, Caileigh looked more comfortable using the midrange & in-between game going off the dribble and Brenna looked more to attack the rim & use her bounce to go over the top - but both can shoot it, both can handle it, and both play with a little flare & confidence. Not sure where their recruitment is at, but they each could help some programs out looking for depth at the guard spots in the 2020 class.

Caileigh Costello went to work for Burke, contributing 16 points including 8 in the 4th quarter.

- A loss for Marlboro, but they didn't come away empty-handed from it and I sure didn't when it comes to them, either. Knowing about the Lofaros going in and having seen them play quite a bit over the last couple years, my biggest takeaway was the aforementioned Hannah Polumbo. Just an 8th grader, she came in off the bench and gave them quality minutes - perhaps even more than they anticipated giving her going into the game. She didn't blow away the scorebooks (4 points), but a simple eye test shows there's a lot of upside here. Hannah appears to be around 6' and already has a pretty strong, athletic body and is coordinated for her size & age with the ability to run the floor. She did a good job creating space in the post and sealing defenders off, and she was a presence on the glass at both ends. Definitely someone for me to keep tabs on not just during the winter, but over the years to come.

- Valley Central had an impressive start and showed that they have several on their roster that can make things happen. The Cooneys, Erin-Rose (2020) & Shaina (2021), have been at it for a while and are probably more familiar names to coaches with their presence on the AAU circuit as well. Katie Crofoot (2020) is also a familiar name, having been a key contributor at VC for a number of years. They pack a powerful punch coming off the bench with Nickole Schmidt (2021), a long, skilled guard that I previously saw & liked in the fall. Hoping to make another trip to the area to catch them as their schedule revs up.

Nickole Schmidt is one of several that can be called upon to produce for Valley Central this winter.

- I'd rather be in the gym than anything else, but sitting in front of my computer typing away for a blog post means one thing... it's basketball season. Nothing better!