More sad news for Section 1 fans. Ossining point guard Hayley Awerdick suffered a torn ACL in her left knee during a scrimmage against Ursuline on Tuesday night and will miss the entire season.
Awerdick, a senior point guard, who was a second-team Journal News all-star last season, was obviously devastated when I caught up with her tonight. Here’s how she described the injury: “I was trying to pass the ball and my body was twisted in a weird way,” she said. “I came down flat-footed, which you’re not supposed to do, you’re supposed to come down on your toes. So when I came down my knee just buckled and I felt it tear. After that, I just started screaming from the top of my lungs and I started crying. I knew right then that I tore it.”
Awerdick said she went for an MRI last night after the scrimmage. Her right knee tear had been originally diagnosed as a sprain, and she and her family wanted to ensure that wouldn’t happen again.
She wasn’t sure when she will have surgery, but expected it to happen at some point in December.
Awerdick, who would have been a four-year varsity player, tore her right ACL during the AAU season after her sophomore year. She recovered in time to help Ossining reach the Section 1 final and performed well at the County Center, earning a spot on the all-tournament team.
With Awerdick, 1,000-point scorer Alex Venuto and Christina Rupp back, and with the addition of freshman transfer Saniya Chong, coach Dan Ricci said Ossining had its best team since the 2004 Class AA state finalist that featured Awerdick’s sister Melissa Awerdick, as well as Whitney MacDonald, Rainey Brownlee and Laura Brown.
Knowing what she would miss made Awerdick’s injury even harder to fathom. “This can’t be real. This can’t happen. We’re going for the gold ball and I have to be here for this,” she thought. “I couldn’t believe it. I was just devastated.”
Even before the injury, Awerdick had begun leaning toward playing college ball at Herkimer Community College. She talked to the coach there, John Campagna, and he eased her mind about the future. “Even though I tore my ACL he still wants me to come to the school,” she said. “It was nice to hear because I was worried about that.”
Obviously, this changes the landscape in Class AA. Mount Vernon is clearly the favorite, but Ossining was likely the No. 2 team. Now, I’m not so sure. No matter what, Section 1 fans will certainly miss another opportunity to watch Awerdick play.
45 Comments
That really stinks. Great kid, excellent player and what a team they had. Hate to see this happen to any kid. Sorry for the Magnus kid too.
Lots of knee problems this year. So sorry to hear that. Taylor Leonard Class D 2009 Player of the Year is also out this year with ACL.
Haley is a great player and she will be surely missed on offense and defense, But look for the emergence of section 1 best fesheman guard and one of the best players since Porsha Postell , she is Saniya Chong, already rated as one of the top prospects in the country at the guard spot,who can score and play defense. She is a 5’9” combo guard who wll bring Ossining to the county center for four years. congradulations Coach Ricci,you have just been given a christmas present for the next 4 years. compliments of the
AAU organization, the Westchester Hoopers.
Sounds like some seious self promotion from another jealous AAU coach!
QUESTION DOES SHE PLAY AAU BALL FOR BRIAN? I DONT THINK SO
bryan at it again when will he learn?
bryan will never learn! this is bryan we are talking about his mouth rambles nonsense non-stop!the westchester who?
Haley,
When i first saw you play at nine years old you were one of the best players in the West/Rockland CYO leagues. Now you’ve become one of the best players in Sec. 1. Speedy recovery, looking forward to see you play in college.
All the best, Rich Harrington
Sounds like bryan looking for a favor COACH RICCI.LOL
What people should be discussing here is the fact that Section 1 has lost a great player. To the young lady who was recently injured I wish you a speedy recovery. Is there anything these young athletes can do to prevent or help minimize the chances of tearing their ACLs??
P.S.
Bryan is one of the better AAU guys out there. He cares more about the girls the most other coaches.
Just wanted to wish Haley a speedy recovery. At Beacon we have had some real battles with her over the past couple of years, and formed a rivalry that unfortunately won’t be played this year with the restriction on games. Haley was the kind of player who made the rivalry great, a gifted player who let it all hang out every time she played
My heart goes out to Haley.. As someone who tore their ACL TWICE,,This will be hard but she can recover…She will be sorely missed..
After watching Saniya Chong, which I did against URSILINE, that guy BRYAN is absolutely right!!!!That Chong girl is the real deal and We already have our eyes on her..
I picked Ossining to win their section and I still do!!! They will rally around this injury and go all the way..Hating on BRYAN and the Westchester Hoopers is a little silly.. Let’s try to grow up in 2010 people and realize everyone is entitled to their opinion.. This is still America, no matter what the Gov’t is doing to it..LOL
“MEN LIE, WOMEN LIE, NUMBERS DON’T.” Watch Saniya’s numbers this year!!!!!!! If BRYAN is wrong i will come on here myself and roast em!!!!!!!!LMAO
MARIST
My heart goes out to the Haley family and wish her a speedy recovery!!!!! On a basketball note, b4 we throw Coach Bryan under te bus, LOL!!! READ THIS BELOW FROM THE BLOGGER HIMSELF… HE GETS QUOTES NOT RUMOR!!! Shoutout to Josh Thomson
The one you may not know is Chong, a 5-foot-9 freshman combo guard who has the ability to change the balance of power in the section. She is originally from the Bronx, but moved south. She returned here for high school.
Dan Ricci said Chong can shoot and handle the ball, which should allow her to get open shots for Alex Venuto and Hayley Awerdick. They had to create their own shots last year. Ricci also called Chong “the best freshman I’ve ever had,” and that includes all the past standouts, like Whitney MacDonald, the former Journal News player of the year.
I still think Mount Vernon will be the team to beat because they have the inside horses.
New sneaker out from nfinity addresses the “Q” angle involved but when it comes down it is a just afreak thing tearing ones acl…you can get greatshoes…follow some great strengthening exercises for knees,acl, but still tear it-just an unfortunate thing…rehab and come back stronger!
MtVErnon is still the favorite to win! Ossining can1t match up with the size difference chong or not!!
Hayley!
When I first heard of your injury-I wanted to make sure I read about it before I wrote to you. Now that I’m calmer, I find myself remembering the great times you and
Tiahna had playing with your “Beannie-babies” -while Mel. and Jhanay (Ursuline) destroyed other teams.
For whatever reason(s), fate has OTHER plans for you. Maybe you are NOW to focus more on your studies, or any other issue demanding your immediate attention. DON’T be
afraid-or angry-you’ll be OK. I know it seems so unfair now-but with the proper attitude proper things will happen. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll coach at Ossining.
Ha!
** Remember, here comes the TRAP-dribble backwards 2x-pivot-get one defender on your hip-EXPLODE out! You’ve done it so many times ON the court-NOW do it OFF the court.
We love you—-Mrs. Harris, Jhanay, and Tiahna send their love. BE STRONG!!
Coach Harris (Nat)
so everyone has been trumpeting Chong as the best frshman around but whispers have said she is not a true freshman..what is her age?where did she transfer from?she may be a talented player and do great things for Coach Ricci but touting her as a phenom freshman is great but if she is older that 14 than we need to correct it as to say she is a phenom 15,phenom 16,or such..there is a huge difference between a “true freshman @14 vs a 16 yr old freshman…just wondering(not hating)
she is not a freshman. she is here from charlotte. 16yrs. old repeated 8th grade from what I hear and also maybe 1 more she should be a junior, at best a sophmore. 16 year old freshman.
Mt. Hoops; You finally made a great point. This player is a great 9th grade player, and will probably play mid D1 or higher. But come on people, one should reveal her AGE when comparing her to the younger players in our section.
Are we listening to ourselves people.We have went from offering condolences to saying a ninth grader is hiding behind her age. This is a young girl, somebodies daughter maybe sister.Let us respect the fact that Ossining has a great player.She will surely help Ossining, and that’s all that counts.
My daughter says she is a nice girl and works real hard in practice. It doesn’t matter what AAU afiliation she is with bcuz it is about Ossining now.. AAU org. can say what they want and are no obligations to have any loyalty to high schools. In my opinion if schools embraced AAU more, these school teams, as a whole, would be better.
That being said lets tone down the rumor mil and leave this young lady, who is a freshmen, alone. Hopefully we are all adults here and if not mature young adults!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Mike
She may be a nice girl and talented but Coach Ricci stating she is the most talented “true freshman” he has ever seen-is where we should be looking instead of portraying her as a young 14 yr old phenom she should be a 16 yr old talented transfer..big difference between a 14 and 16 yr old no one was crticizing HER but instead of Coach Ricci and that Bryan Williams dude…no one would have said squat if they just said a recent transfer from down south but to potray her as a young 14 yr old freshman who will own section 1 to a talented transfer who will own section 1..Mr Mike you are looking at it wrong ..no one has crticized her but instead her puppet masters who claimed she was a true freshman
Well a 16 year old can’t be considered a “true” freshmen. How old will she be when she graduates high school?? 20??
MOUNTIE HOOPS I AGREE 100% YOU ARE ON THE MONEY WITH THIS ONE******************************************************
Mr. Mike: Come on, let’s stay out of the “spin zone”. Nothing bad has been said about any young girl on this blog. We are being adults. What Mt. Hoops is saying is simple. Simply put, when you want to talk about how great this player is, just do so. But if you want to in some way rank her or compare her to other players who are in 9th grade, then please mention her AGE. We are trying to be fair to all the 13 and 14 year old young girls who are playing ball 12 months a year and are in the grade appropriate level.
The Facts – I did not want to come on here but this nonsense has forced me to. Fist of All Saniya is a 15 year old kid. Before all of you come on here and make accusations about her age you might want to ask her or her family. She never stayed back in middle school either. She in fact is a strong student. It is a parents right when a student starts school, and that is personal issue and not one that should be discussed on a sports blog. Also, people have taken offense to my saying she is the best freshmen I have had at Ossining, so let me leave you with this. According to NYSPHAA “a student shall be eligible for interschool competition in grades 9,10,11 & 12 until his or her 19th birthday. If the age of 19 is reached on or after July 1st, the student may continue to participate in that sport for the remainder of the school year in all sports.” For the record Saniya will not even turn 19 until after she graduates high school.
That makes Saniya a Freshmen with 4 years of eligibilty. I hope this ends this ridiculous conversation about a terrific kid who just wants to play Basketball.
Coach Ricci
Ossining
I read the article and I’m pretty sure the coach said she was the best freshman he ever had. It looks like you injected “true” in there for your convenience. Regardless of what the kid’s age is, and none of you have provided proof, she is indeed a freshman and the fact is that she is eligible for four years of varsity basketball which I believe is what the coach was saying. Regarding age and if it is even the case, many high school kids stay back at some point but no one seems to make a federal case of it. Particularly their freshman year. Didn’t the Roosevelt FB team just win a sectional champ with at least one “older” kid? Don’t remember reading about his age as a freshman.
By the way, if the President of The U.S. doesn’t have to show his birth certificate to hold the highest office in the land why should this kid to play HS basketball?
)
Thanks for the clarification coach. We all know there are a lot of jealous and petty people out there. This Mountie guy has her at 16. Wonder where/why he got that from.
I like the birth certificate thing bbfan. Very good point.
Mr. Mike…Thanks Coach Ricci..I don’t put spin on anything I am simply stating to all with accusations, get facts and not fiction.. I am an OSSINING resident for the last 20 years and she is the best freshmen I have seen come through here so far..Again people, this is a coach stating his opinion as well as other coaches..
My take on it was if we are being adults putting a 15,16, or 18 years old business on a blog,(Especially without facts!!) is just flat out wrong, period.. It’s a shame that you had to come on this blog and straighten this out coach but kudos to you and the Ossining program.. I hope you run through your schedule and sectionals to silence the critics.. SEASON STARTS FRIDAY!!!!
I hope that Ossining wins the section for the simple fact that I want Coach Ricci to have two gold balls…
Mountie Hoops and Section Fan please read what I said again.. Words like “criticize and spin-zone” had nothing to do with my quote.. What I wanted you to get from that was if you do not have anything factual to add to an arguement don’t assume and put information on here you have no clue about. It is a 14, 15, or 16 year old we are talking about relax…
If you had kids and you read they got left back in the 8th grade you would feel someway about that especially if it wasn’t true. Even if the girl was 12 she could still read and her parents can read.. But I know some blogs bring out the best and worst in some people not all. I am just glad coach got on here and clarified his statements, WITH FACTS!!!!!!!!!! GO OSSINING!!!!
GOOD TRY MR RICCI.
hsbbfan; That’s a real intelligent example comparing this to our leaders in D.C. Maybe we can take it one step further and use your esxample when parents register their kids for CYO, Little League and even Kindergarten. Maybe we should not even pay our taxes since some of our leaders don’t. Mt. Hoops pointed out the POSSIBLE fact that the player (who by the way is an exciting and terrific player) maybe should be a Soph or Jr.. That still makes her a great player BUT maybe without a lot of comparison to younger girls in her class.
I would just like to say that nowhere did I or coach Ricci state that Chong was a “true” freshman. That was pure conjecture.
According to Ricci, Chong was born in June. She is only about six months older than some of the students in her class. Considering no one ever stated that she was a true freshman and that she is not 16, as some have stated, I don’t understand why this has become such an issue. It is clear no rules have been broken.
That was a joke section fan. Lighten up.
The fact is that a girl born in June ‘94 should be a sophomore. And not a particularly young sophomore. It’s not an eligibility issue, just compare her to sophomores, not freshmen, who are 14 and most not close to their 15th birthdays.
mountie hoops, maybe u should take a look at the girl from kinston RACHEL COFFEY?
It is a possibility that if the student in question here started her schooling down South, some school districts in that region require a student to be 5 by June 1st in order to start Kindergarten. This would account for her being a year older as a freshman, especially since it was stated she has a June birthday
Haley, back on the subject, Prayers are with you for a full recovery. Damm, that’s about the worse thing that can happen to an athlete. 3 years of blood,sweat and tears and now this… God bless you for the mark you have obviously left in your league and in your future stardome.
Didn’t Coach Ricci get a transfer in football too?
Now he gets a transfer in Hoops??
Interesting how these “TRANSFERS” happen and seem to help his teams.
Is this a PUBLIC School recruiting??????????
PS
My daughter is a Freshman and is 13 gonna be 14 in march, how is this girl 15 already?
Words out a freshman in RCD performs just as good if not better.
FACTS, I take issue with you! How dare you call Coach Ricci MR? He is Coach Ricci, Dan, Rick-Rock or Midget Mac! One night in college he went by the name Rachel Birnbaum but that is a story for another day.
As for his “recruting”. I did see Coach Ricci at the annual “Turkey Bowl” on Thanksgiving morning but the only “players” there were 40 something men with 40 something waistlines so I doubt that trip bore any fruit if you will.
As for his freshman, the early word out of Sabu’s Bar n’ Grill is that she is actually a 46 year old transsexual and her real name is Charles “Psycho C” Smith.
THE WHOLE ISSUE IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS !!!!!!!!!
OK HALEY GOT HURT, TALK ABOUT OTHERS ON THE TEAM TO THAT ARE WITH INJURIES ALSO.
ONE PLAYER DOESNT MAKE THE TEAM OKAY!!!!!!!!!!
ITS A JOINT EFFORT SO YES WE WILL GO FOR THE GOLD, MAKE OR NOT, WE WILL GO IN FULL FORCE STATES WE WILL TRY. WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM OF GIRLS WHO WILL GIVE IT THERE ALL, AND HENCE FORTH THEY WILL STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND KICK SOME BOOTY.
LEAVE SINAYA ALONE, ITS ABOUT BALL PLAYING.
I agree with Mommyone.. Leave Saniya alone but also talk about the other girls on the team.. They have great coaching and great depth.. Someone will step up and use this injury as motivation.. A lot of teams are not as strong due to losing seniors or eligibilty..I am so glad the “AGE TASK FORCE”(LMAO!!!!) is out up holding PSAL law!!! I hope the same standards are for everyone and not just a select few, I am just saying..LOL