BEDFORD, N.Y. - With all the players the Fox Lane High girls basketball team expects to return for the 2025-26 season, Coach Kris Matts knows that building upon this year’s 15-7 overall record is something the entire program can get behind.
With just four seniors leaving for graduation, Matts is hoping the underclassmen are ready to put in the necessary off-season work that might propel the Foxes to a Final 4 run next season.
Fifth-seeded Fox Lane fell just one win short of that in a 61-36 season-ending loss to No.4 host Mahopac in the Section 1 Class AA quarterfinals where the Foxes left knowing full well that there’s room for improvement despite a five-game winning streak, including a 56-47 opening round playoff win over a competitive Lakeland club.
“We went into this season expecting to improve on a successful campaign in 2023-24, but we weren’t sure where our ceiling was,” Coach Matts said. “After a 6-0 start and an amazing performance in our first loss to Pelham, we all started to dream a little bigger. Improving is great, but with a roster like this, why stop there?”
Under the leadership of All-League senior Cara Drapala, who suffered a late-season injury, the Foxes never looked back, but her departure will be something the Foxes have to account for. Drapala’s influence on and off the court, and her grit will be sorely missed next season, as it was in the second round of playoffs, according to Matts.
“Cara was our senior captain and leader,” Matts said of Drapala, who averaged 12 PPG on a blazing 42% shooting, to go with 3 RPG,2 APG, 3 deflections and two steals. “She is one of the best players in program history, and she led us to the doorstep of our first playoff win in a few years. Sadly, she tore her ACL and MCL for the second time in her career during our playoff game against Lakeland. The girls rallied for her so we could get the win, but that’s as far as we could go without our leader. She will graduate with 646 points despite playing during a covid shortened season and losing her sophomore year to her first knee injury. Cara is irreplaceable, and I don’t mean her stats. Cara is a calming presence who brings the best out of everyone around her, including the coaching staff. She knows just what to say to support her teammates while still challenging them, and she cares about every girl on that roster more than herself. While we will clearly miss her, we will try to continue to use her as inspiration, as she expects us to improve next season despite her being in college.”
Additional departing seniors include Ava Schuster, Kayla Santos and Hailey Kraljevic.
“Kayla, an undersized forward, developed her footwork and became a terror for forwards to stay with. We will miss her selflessness and willingness to do anything to make the team better. A standout soccer player, academic, and musician, Ava Shuster also does not miss from the free throw line and in. She also leads the team in offensive rebounds per minute. The depth she added at the forward position will be sorely missed next season. Hailey, the tallest girl in the program, had the thankless task of anchoring the scout defense, but she never complained. She has made herself into a basketball player and an important part of the team.”
The seniors helped foster a culture the underclassmen will look back fondly upon.
“There's many reasons why we had a great season this year, but I think the biggest thing was our team culture and our love for each other, as well as the game,” All-League junior Riley New said. We all have grown up playing together and really brought that love to the court this year. We had a roster full of hard workers and dedication, which put us in the spot we were in this year to be a top 5 seed.”
Fox Lane should return a pair of All-League juniors in G New and F Morgan Clinton and a slew of others looking to leave their mark next season, including Kam Boniello, Cora Moore, Dylan New, Nora Dooley, Natalie Mazzuca and Amanda Mazzuca.
“We have a lot to look forward to next season, and I think the main thing is having a lot of momentum going into the new season as we come off of this year,” New Said. We have a lot of multi-sport athletes on the team who will work hard in the off season whether that's basketball or not. Next year, we are looking forward to growing our team culture, continuing to get better, and have an even better season than we just had. Losing to Mahopac in the game to get us to the county center wasn't what we worked all season for. None of us are going to forget that loss and it will help give us something to prove next year.”
Coach Matt concurs, knowing full well, though, that the Foxes will not be overlooked by their opponents after putting forth an exceptional season.
“The bottom line is, we won 15 games and we had an amazing season,” Matts said. “Some bad luck saw us fall short of the dream of the County Center, but the heart, talent, and experience returning next season means that that dream is not out of reach. With how hard these girls work, they make me feel like nothing is out of reach, and I can't wait to see where they bring me next.”
The team set some early-season goals, which were met, including to win more games than last season and make some noise in the postseason, after two years of opening-round setbacks. Matts likes the make-up of the returnees.
“Riley New led the way for us this year, both in terms of scoring points, running the offense, and spearheading the defense, which was our lifeblood,” Matts said, noting a stat line that professed that truth. New averaged 14 PPG, 4 RPG, 3 APG, 4 deflection and two steals. “She played the majority of the season with badly injured ribs, and she still took charges and dove on the floor for every loose ball. Her growth as a player has been phenomenal and we all look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next year. With her steering the ship, I like what I see on the horizon.”
Similarly, Clinton is another grunt, the kind of player a coach needs.
“Morgan Clinton did the work for us in the trenches again,” he said, noting yet another impressive stats, including 9 PPG and 10 RPG. “She’s not only guarding girls much bigger, she’s figuring out how to bother their shots with smart positioning. She will become an even bigger part of the offense next year as we look to replace the points we lose to graduation.”
The coach noted that Moore began to tap into some unrealized potential after averaging 8 PPG, 8 RPG and 2 APG.
“Cora is a unicorn, capable of handling the ball, rebounding, running the break, and guarding every position,” the coach said. “We are not where we are this season without Cora, and if she decides she wants to get better next year, I wouldn’t want to stand in her way.”
Sophomore G Dylan New (4 PPG, 3 RPG) has been tabbed “Our precocious sophomore,” by Matts. “She certainly didn’t look young out there. She’s a selfless teammate who would always rather pass, box out, or take a charge than shoot, she still managed to always hit the big shots when we needed her to. We will need youth to step up as Cara departs, and Dylan has shown that she can handle the job.”
The same goes for Boniello (3 PPG, 6 RPG, 1 APG, 1 SPG), who did much of the dirty work for the Foxes.
“She wouldn’t have it any other way,” the coach said. “She also kept offensive possessions alive by tipping the ball away from bigger forwards, sacrificed scoring for screening, and always managed to keep the team loose and easy with her sense of humor. If we want to progress next season, we will need Kammy’s heart, humor and leadership.”
Amanda Mazzuca, as the season went on, developed into a ferocious on- and off-ball defender.
“She dodged screens, denied passing lanes, and took huge charges,” the coach said. She makes smart plays on offense, never letting the moment get too big for her.”
There are others the coach is banking on to take big steps forward.
“With four seniors graduating, we will need Natalie Mazzuca and Nora Dooley to take on more significant roles next season,” Matts said. “Natalie is a regular in the rotation, and she has the unenviable task of playing shooting guard and power forward. That means she has to know twice as much as everyone else, and she’s usually guarding someone that’s a tough matchup. Nora, on the other hand, is the best shooter in the entire program. When she lets it fly, it might as well be a layup. The offense will need to find ways of getting her open looks next season if we are going to develop.”
The moments will get bigger in the 2025-26 campaign as expectations will be higher, but expectations are only hope until realized.
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