Aguirre leads LHS to Giglio win

For Lakeland, the wait is over. Its girls basketball team finally topped sister school Walter Panas in the Vincent and Terry Giglio Memorial Scholarship Games.

This year, the Hornets turned the tables, edging the Panthers, 44-41, on Jan. 31.

The win was the first in the Giglio Games for the Hornets since 2022, when Lakeland won at Panas 60-55. 

“The fact that we know people on the other side who we are friends with and that fact that we could play together and come together is really fun,” Aguirre said. 

Contributing 12 points to the Hornet victory was Riley Waters.  

“It means a lot [to win especially since it was a close game,” Waters said. “We know a lot of girls on the other team and it was just a great win. We played as a team and we did everything we could to win. I’m glad that the game went in our favor.” 

Aguirre helped get the Hornets off to a good start when she scored 7 points in the first quarter. The latter two came off a layup that finished a fast break, giving Lakeland a 12-2 lead with 1:32 remaining in the opening quarter. 

“Just warming up, I was feeling it and I was really excited to put it all out on the court,” Aguirre said. 

Lakeland continued to maintain the lead throughout the game, extending its advantage to 36-22 late in the third quarter, when Waters missed a 3-pointer but got the rebound and connected for the 2-point hoop.  

“I just had a next-play mentality, don’t worry about the miss, just play hard no matter what,” Waters said. “I just had a grab it (the miss) and do whatever I had to do (to score).” 

Panas answered by mounting a furious comeback attempt, cutting Lakeland’s 14-point lead to four, 41-37. Aguirre responded with a trey from the corner, that got a shooter’s bounce and went in, with 3:05 left in the final quarter. 

“I was just hoping it would go in and with the bounce, it did,” Aguirre said.  

Panas responded with a trey of its own, getting its Hall of Fame public address announcer, Dave Canning and its fans, all riled up, slicing the Hornets’ lead to 44-40 with 1:40 remaining in the game.  

The Panthers did get one more point on a free throw with eight seconds left in the contest. However, after a timeout allowing the Hornets to take the ball at midcourt, Waters was amazingly able to dribble out the clock untouched, like a bike messenger weaving its way through midtown Manhattan traffic in rush hour, to seal the win. 

“I was just thinking if I got to the backcourt, I could just outrun them,” Waters said. “I just thought if I could get back there, we would have the time run out and if by chance they fouled me, there was not a lot of time on the clock. I just thought I had to run it out.” 

Carina Cannizzaro (10 points), Allie Waters (4 points), Emma Burke, Sam Aleva, Maebh Rooney, Emily Hahn, Theryn Rader, Lily Bauer, Alyssa Traille, Adriana Ar-Bab, Mike Auerbach (head coach), and Nicole Verrino (assistant coach) also made up the Hornets’ Giglio Games roster.  

In addition to the Giglio Games, Lakeland (8-5) traveled to John Jay-Cross River on Jan. 29 and came away with a 43-39 victory, led by Aguirre (17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals), Riley Waters (11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), Hahn (6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals), Allie Waters (5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Burke (2 points), and Cannizzaro (2 points, 8 rebounds).