YORKTOWN, N.Y.—Lakeland, coming off a season where it finished 12-10, will have to replace its leading scorer from last year, two-time All-Section guard Nichole Ljuljic. Ljuljic averaged 17.9 points per game as a senior and scored 1,079 points for her five-year varsity career, becoming just the seventh Hornet to reach the 1,000-point mark.
Fortunately, Lakeland has plenty of talent returning in senior 5-foot-4 guard Amanda Franco (4.7 points per game last season), 5-7 senior forward Sarah Devane (8.2 ppg, 5.3 rebounds per game), 5-6 junior forward Emily Hahn, and 5-4 sophomore guard Riley Waters (8.4 ppg, 3 RPG).
Waters scored a team-high 24 points last season in No. 7 Lakeland’s 68-52 loss at sister school, No. 2 Walter Panas, the eventual state finalist, in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class A Tournament.
“Riley Waters gives us some experience at the guard position, while also being a very good athlete,” said Hornet first-year coach Mike Auerbach, who previously coached the Walter Panas boys squad the last seven seasons. “She can play the point and off the ball. She’s competitive on the defensive end as well. Amanda Franco is a good scorer who can finish with both hands around the basket and provide some outside shooting. She also spent a lot of time last year guarding the opponents' better guards. Sarah Devane is a forward with guard skills. She can shoot it from the mid-range and three. She also finishes well around the basket. Her passing and ball handling ability as a forward will be a plus for us. Emily Hahn played some on varsity last year as well. She’s a good athlete who is very active on both ends of the court.”
Junior 5-3 guard Sam Alleva, sophomore 5-7 forwards Tara McCabe, Maebh Rooney, and Mackenzie Latorre, freshmen 5-4 guard Liliana Aguirre, 5-5 guard Emma Burke, and 5-7 forward Carina Cannizzaro, and seventh grader, 5-2 guard Allie Waters, are the Hornets’ newcomers.
“Our expectations are to improve every day,” Auerbach said. “We’re working hard. The girls are into it and doing everything they can to prepare for the season. Offensively we want to share the ball and play to our strengths. I think we’ll be good in transition and the open court. Defensively I like our quickness and energy. Rebounding will be a team effort.”
Lakeland will open its season at home vs. Carmel at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Yorktown coach Kristi Dini enters her third year leading the Huskers, and like her crosstown counterpart, she has a star guard to replace after leading scorer and All-Section honoree Kaitlyn Judge's graduation in June.
Two key returners for Yorktown are seniors, 5-1 guard Ava Costello and 6-foot forward Lexi Livadhi, who was named All-League last season.
“They are both great leaders,” said Dini, who is assisted by former Lakeland player Danielle Stabile. “Ava’s work ethic is off the charts and the girls love her. Lexi brings some size and physicality in the post for us. She has a knack for scoring and is a big-time rebounder.”
Two other key returning players for the Huskers are junior 5-5 guard/forward Kiera Mooney and senior 5-4 guard Sofia Boucher, who signed on Nov. 13 to play lacrosse at Southern Connecticut State University.
“Kiera will surprise people with her defense and aggressiveness,” said Dini, who coached her alma mater Putnam Valley to the Section 1 Class B title in 2020. “Sofia Boucher loves the game and will be another great leader. The young newcomers are very talented but they're still very, very young. It’s a crash course this early, starting this late on our defenses and our new offense. They're really focused and great in practice, so I’m excited to watch them grow throughout the season.”
Sophomore 5-8 guard/forward Annie Cunneen is also a returnee , while 5-4 junior forward Sienna Katzenberg, 5-3 sophomore guard/forward Kylie Costello, freshmen, 5-7 forward Jula Scavello, 5-3 guard Ava Ryan, 5-9 forward Addison Shluter, and 5-3 guard Sophia Morello, and 5-5 eighth grade guard Reilly Acosta are the Huskers’ newcomers.
Like other Section 1 teams, Yorktown has had to deal with getting ready for a season with limited time to prepare—which is especially challenging for a squad with four freshmen and an eighth-grader.
“This year is a bizarre year starting this late,” Dini said. “It feels like no prep time at all. Tryouts started Monday (Nov. 18), they end, and boom only four practices before your first scrimmage.”
Dini said the team's goals are very similar to what they were in the past two seasons.
“We want to bring energy every practice and continue to build a basketball culture in Yorktown,” Dini said. “We want to be the most prepared team in every game win or lose. Our goal is always to be one of the best defensive teams in the section and have our defense help us compete. We have daily goals for practice, weekly goals for the program, and goals every game that we talk about as a group. We are taking each day one at a time and tackling the goals as they come.”
Yorktown, which finished 10-10 a year ago, including a 48-28 loss as the No. 11 seed at No. 6 Mahopac in the opening round of the Section 1 Class AA Tournament, will open this season when it hosts Carmel at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5.
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