Update, 2:12 p.m.: The game is about to get underway. There are eight seniors in the starting lineups. Some of them are going to be sent home soon.
Update, 2:25 p.m.: Timeout Kennedy. Irvington leads 13-7. Five different players have scored for the Bulldogs. Allison Santini leads Kennedy with five points.
Update, 2:33 p.m.: Irvington leads 15-11 at the end of one. Kennedy just inbounded with 2.2 seconds left and completed a pass to Lauren Tracy at halfcourt. Tracy then threw a long pass to Santini, who caught it and put it in “before the buzzer.”
Update, 2:45 p.m.: Lisa Bucci just scored on a breakaway layup to give Irvington a 30-19 lead with 1:27 to play in the half. Kennedy called a timeout.
Update, 2:51 p.m.: HALFTIME — Irvington leads 33-21 at halftime after a strong second quarter. Tara Gabelman scored eight points in the second quarter and leads the Bulldogs with 10 points and eight rebounds. Marley Giddens also has 10 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals.
Kennedy struggled in the second quarter with turnovers and now has 10 for the game. Somewhat surprisingly, the Gaels have also been outrebounded 20-11. That will change if they hope to come back.
Santini has played well. She scored all seven of her points in the first quarter and also has three rebounds. Lauren Tracy and Alexa Mancuso have four points apiece.
Update, 3:05 p.m.: For those who asked, the crowd is excellent, and it is not people who arrived early for the Poughkeepsie-North Rockland game. There are a lot of people here wearing green.
Update, 3:13 p.m.: Irvington leads 35-25 with 3:09 left in the third quarter. Gabelman went to the bench after picking up her second and third fouls.
Update, 3:20 p.m.: Not a great quarter for Irivngton, yet the Bulldogs lead 41-29 after a couple late baskets from Kelly O’Donnell. There are a bunch of reasons why Irvington is better this season, but O’Donnell is among them. She’s showing today that she’s an improved player. She also has five rebounds and three assists.
Update, 3:30 p.m.: After a nice feed from Gabelman to Giddens for a basket, Irvington pulls ahead 50-33 late in the fourth. Alexis Martins just added a bucket on her third try and added the ensuing FT, so it’s 53-33.
Update, 3:36 p.m.: Tracy just scored for Kennedy but Irvington leads 55-38 with 2:02 to play.
Update, 3:40 p.m.: Irvington wins 57-42. It will play Nanuet on Tuesday at 8 for the gold ball… again, and as expected.
28 Comments
How’s the crowd?
What’s happening?????
The crowd was pretty large. Definately not the blow-out people were expecting. I actually thought it would be much worse then it was. A decent game, but after being spoiled with the Nanuet-Briarcliff game this one kinda put me to sleep. Will be there for the Irvington vs Nanuet game.
Good game. Irvington deserved to win. Very solid effort. That said, Irvington student fans would benefit from learning some basic sportsmanship. Yelling and screaming at Kennedy players shooting foul shots is pretty bush league! Not a good complement to a very fine Varsity squad.
Does anyone know the state regional schedule?
Does anyone know about the aau organization NY pride?? and who runs it I need honest opinions.
Congratulations from Abu Dhabi, UAE. Great work Bulldogs. Good Luck in the finals. Keep your focus.
I think all AAU is pretty much the same. It’s probably where your daughter feels most comfortable.
love the game,
I would not recommend that organization. Very costly and they did not do many tourneys for the money. Person who runs it will tell you and your daughter anything he thinks you want to hear, then do something different!! I would stay away.
Whats makes the aau organization better than the other the tourneys they enter? The cost? The coaches?the players?
Bball fann,
Thanks for your thoughts I had heard the same thing $2500 to play plus costs added on I looked at website and he has a girl coming from california, is there not enough aau there? that is very hard to believe.
Reputationhow long have they been around, are the coaches in it for the kids-Conflict of interest (is it someone’s primary or secondary business)
-Parent coaches usually not preferred, coaches that are local HS and college coaches is the way to go
Cost Vs. how many tournamentsin my kid’s final year AAU fee was $1300 for 15 tournaments, not including cost of hotels/ travel. Overall cost can be above 5KPractice timeminimum twice a week 2 hours a practice-Players they attract skill level. That should help gauge if your kid is a good fit with that org.
-Focus – is the team focused on one or two kids while the others watch
Documentationweb page, list of former players, where they are in college etcPick an org that fits the kid. If they have low probability of playing D1 or D2 is it worth spending all kids of money to travel the NE area? There are plenty of fine organizations with small programs to help the kids get better and learn life skills.
In his book “How to Get Rich” Donald Trump warns employers and business owners that the people they fire “will hate you forever”. Might as well get over it.
When it comes to talking to parents about AAU teams and coaches, Trump’s admonition comes to mind. It’s bad enough what we hear from parents here about their players in high school settings when they don’t get enough playing time/recognition/the rock. It usually = “bad coach” or “bad teamate(s)”.
Trolling blogs for feedback on AAU coaches/teams is about as effective as going to the Yankees.com blog and aking about the Red Sox. Or vice-versa. You are going to get some heated opinions, needless to say. And maybe you are just seeding the blog to fire up some disgruntled folks, crazies, whatever. That too, is done all the time in the ether.
There are a handful of AAU teams in this region that assemble college showcase squads. The NY Pride is one of them. They all have had alumni go on to play college ball at the D1/2/3 level, and beyond. They all pretty much go to the same events. The kids play their hearts out in front of college coaches and scouts. Some get offers.
You can Google all the better AAU clubs and check out their websites. Obviously, some of them ceaselessly advertise themselves here via posts. Best bet is to talk to parents of kids that have had successful outcomes at those teams, and you can find the rosters hung right out there in public so there is no secret who plays for who. A few inquiries and you’ll have all the references you need to make an informed decision.
From there it is a question of style, does your athlete like an active, louder coach, a sit with arms crossed coach? Is there individual training available? Camps? Does she want to play with the other kids on the team? Do they need someone at her position?
Then make your choice. But to seed a blog really only seems to bring out partisan blurts-out. Not much else of value. All of these coaches have cut someone’s kid. At the end of the day, “they will hate you forever” when you fire someone. Cutting someone’s kid has a similar effect.
The young lady coming from Cali wants to go to college on the East Coast, and thus showcases here. The Pride had Sam Perez come up from Orlando season before last and she now plays at Adelphi. Both are very talented athletes and great team players.
Aldo has a focus on guard training. You can see him handle the ball on the video at their site, he can teach visually any move, something few of the local AAU coaches have the ability to do. Few if any can match his passion and intensity in the gym day in and day out. Whether you think that is a good match for your kid, purely up to you.
If you click around a lot and get lots of information about coaching, training and teaching, you’ll find visual learning is becoming more popular than verbal, lecturing approaches. Again, if you like this, fine. If not, fine.
College showcase AAU is all about individual skills, and opportunity to display skills at showcases. It is NOT about being great with a whiteboard, zoning up to win a game, or being some super-duper play caller. That stuff is about the ego of the coach more than the players. Non showcase AAU is about improving, having a fun life experience, and recreational. Yes, you can do all of the above on a college showcase team, but the latter is serious business, whereas the former is more for fun.
College coaches want to see whether the athletes have the ability to play the game, guard someone, create their own shot, gauge athleticism, etc. And that’s before they check into your background as a student. Fail to deliver in the classroom and you can forget almost all college basketball opportunities.
Last year NY Pride did 11 showcases, including a D1 event schedule that finished in Villanova in October. If you are equipped with fingers, you can click your way to the costs per team for these events. Their kids also did the Manhattan College and Villanova individual showcases, with contact made direct between Pride folks and event organizers to get invites for Pride players that otherwise were not invited to these individual events. They have 9 listed but I know more are being added.
Some folks thought it worked out great and their kids got lots of college letters, offers. Others did not. But they all did the same thing: play man, push the ball up the floor. Rinse. Repeat at another showcase. What’s the difference between the kid on the floor that gets lots of college coaches interested and the one that does not? Like the old IBM ad campaign, “you make the call”.
If the money is the issue, there are teams that do local events at the Brewster Sports Center/Hooperstown. If you want your kid to travel around the country, it is not cheap. You decide if your child has the talent to merit the exposure. There are lots of AAU teams, new ones popping up every spring. There are plenty of choices and with a little legwork, you can find the right fit for your child and your budget.
On the conflict of interest issue. Professional coaches are paid. College coaches that coach AAU teams are paid. Someone’s dad is honorable, should be applauded for volunteerism, but may have a ‘my daughter first’ agenda and if you get TWO moms/dads coaching the same team, that may be 2x the same conflict in a sport with only 5 spots on the floor. I’d rather go with the paid basketball people, if I can afford the freight and my child’s talent merits the expense.
ok thanks.
AAUer & PRide parent
2 very good responses!!
So it looks like ny pride aau is only for people with money. So will call it the RICH mans AAU ORG.
Well all the AAU organizations charge too much money.
Lady knicks charge about 1250, hoopers charge 1250, gauchos is 1000. do not know about other city organizations this is what I have heard so far, but the pride charges 2500, WOW!
love the game,
And trust me, he may be an intense coach, but he is a just as intense salesman too!
I hate to choose sides here but from everything I see and hear the Lady Knicks are the best AAU organization in Westchester.
They have been around the longest and have the best reputation for the serious player.
thanks sports center I will look into the knicks.
Best decision we ever made (basketball wise) to have our daughter try out for two clubs and then choose to play for the Lady Knicks. They are competitive and play at some of the best tournaments and push the girls to perform at their best.
While looking into AAU organizations, if your daughter is a HS player or even a JHS player who you may feel has the ability to play in college you might get in touch with local college coaches and ask them which teams they will usually watch at the College Showcases. Certain clubs almost always produce 14 u, 15u & 16 u teams that have a number of players colleges are interested in. Most of these clubs go to the College Showcases, Blue Chip, USJN, Albany Capitals Inv., Gym Rats, Future Stars and the college coaches will usually check out the programs that have produced good teams year after year. They will usually be able to give you a good heads up on which clubs are respected.
TO: Love the game. AAU has shown that it makes a marginal statement who has been playing and who hasn’t . Of course you will find players that are just exceptional and haven’t played AAU but it is rare. Some have better reputations than others but basically they all are there to make your child the best they can be. What they do with that training and information is then up to the child. In all of High School Varsity Teams in our area, you can see who the AAU players are. It’s a lot of money a huge commitment but very beneficial.
From 9,000 miles away I knew that consistent unselfish teamwork would enable the Bulldogs to extend their season. A well deserved Congratulations!
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Fun