BREAKING: Following Ossining’s thrilling, and (rare) come-from-behind 88-79 win over Hamilton Wednesday afternoon, the Pride were rewarded in more than just the win column.
Standout senior guard Saniya Chong and head coach Dan Ricci were named the High School Player and Coach of the Week by Sports Illustrated Thursday afternoon.
For Chong (pictured right), it is the second time in as many years that the sports juggernaut has recognized the sharp-shooter’s talents. Last year, Chong was featured as one of the “Faces in the Crowd” in the March 12 issue after scoring her 2,000th career point.
Chong was the difference maker in Ossining’s win Wednesday, scoring 24 of her 43 points in the fourth quarter. During her stellar quarter, Chong also passed Peekskill alum Sheila Wagner to become the leading female scorer in Rockland/Westchester/Putnam.
While his UConn-bound guard has received plenty of well-deserved national recognition, this is all relatively new to the three-sport Pride coach. Ricci (pictured left), with the help of Chong, has built a powerhouse of a program in Ossining that is now ranked tops in New York for Class AA by the New York Sportswriters Association.
Even without their D-1 recruit, the rest of the Pride starters, as well as their bench have all stepped into the limelight due to Ossining’s success in recent years.
After falling short in the state semifinals last year to Syracuse-Cicero North (backed by Chong’s future teammate, Breanna Stewart), Ricci and the Pride looked poised to bring a state title home to Ossining.
Among Chong’s several accolades over the past few days, she was also named one of the four nominees to play in the 2013 McDonald’s All-American game on April 3 at Chicago’s United Center. A testament to Section 1 basketball, Rye Country Day senior Carolyn Binder was also selected as one of the nominees.
Binder, a Con Edision Scholar-Athlete of the Week recipient earlier this year, is the school’s all-time leading scorer and will be attending Columbia University to play D-1 ball in the fall.
The selection show to determine the final 24-boy and 24-girl rosters will be aired on ESPNU on February 14 at 5 p.m. Hopefully the announcement doesn’t bring heartbreak to our girls.
7 Comments
Congrats,to all!
ALL OF SECTION 1 AND BEYOND ARE HOPEFUL MISS CHONG,MAKES THE TEAM,VERY PROUD
Very nice
Ossining was good before Chong and will be good after her as well. Congrats to her and Dan for scheduling a great National schedule this year. Dan has built a winning program dating back to his second season. Great job.
At 36 ppg, 10 assts with the sched they play I think shes got a pretty good shot.
When are the parents going to get the credit for putting a basketball in thier childs hands and at a very young age. Its funny when a team stinks or loses the coaches blame the kids but when a team wins the coaches want to get all the credit. Lets give credit where the credit is due. THANK YOU PARENTS.
Because, TRUTH, sure the parents put the ball in their kids hands, but in my coaching experience, the parent usually doesnt know much about the fundamentals of the sport. ITs the coach that instills that. Also, the parent thinks their kid is the next coming, the coach makes the kid work for it. Want more? Its usually the parent that gives the athlete bad habits (“if its too hard, just forget it” or “if you dont work hard and make the team, its the coaches, other kids’ fault”) Athletes get their discipline taught to them from coaches unfortunately. see where Im going with this?
Every bad habit i’ve ever had to break from an athlete came from his parents, sorry to say, but I bet 99% of coaches will agree. Ask them!