For the third straight season, Yorktown earned a postseason trip to the Westchester County Center in White Plains during the 2024-25 campaign. As the No. 2 seed, Yorktown beat visiting No. 15 Carmel 50-37 in the opening round of the Section 1 Class AA Tournament, won against visiting No. 7 Horace Greeley 64-61 in the quarterfinals, before losing to No. 3 Rye in the semifinals 43-41 at the County Center, to finish 18-5.
If the Huskers are going to make it down county again, they will have to do it without graduated All-Section players forward Ryan Duffy and guard Kaden Gonzalez—the latter the League I-A Player of the year now playing at SUNY-Oneonta.
“It’s hard to replace two guys like Ryan and Kaden,” said Yorktown eighth-year coach Mark Pavella. “But we are excited about our group this year, and the opportunity that is in front of them.”
Returning from last year are seniors, 6-foot-1 guard Colin Worden, 6-7 center Franklin Ringel, 6-1 guard Jimmy Goff, 5-3 guard Ethan Bantug, 6-3 forward Gabe Scavello, and 6-3 forward Sean Davis.
“As of now (Nov. 23) the guys are competing for minutes in practice,” Pavella said. “We have a good week ahead of practices and scrimmages, and we are looking forward to getting back on the court on Dec. 5.”
That date is the Huskers’ opener, which will see them travel to Brewster for a 6:15 p.m. tip.
New seniors who are returning to the program are 5-11 guard Tyler Galante, 5-10 guard Tommy Carney, 5-11 guard Lucas Shrade, and 6-1 guard Connor Morhardt. Juniors, 6-4 forward Shane Goff, 5-11 guard Christian Lippoth, 6-1 guard Ben Silverman, 6-2 guard Nate Worden, 6-3 forward Zef Ivezic, 5-10 guard Eamon Coney, and sophomore 5-10 guard Jake Sgobbo are the Huskers’ newcomers.
“We have 11 newcomers this year to the varsity team,” Pavella said. They have done a good job picking up on what we are trying to teach them.”
Pavella said that the Huskers’ immediate goal is to get ready for an important game on opening night.
“This year, teams are opening up with league play, so it’s important that we are ready to go right from the start,” Pavella said. “Our long-term goal is to qualify for sectionals and give ourselves a chance to get to the County Center to compete for a sectional championship.”
Lakeland is coming off a season where, as the No. 14 seed, it won its Section 1 Class AA out-bracket game against visiting No. 19 Saunders 63-36 before losing at No. 3 Rye 55-33 in the opening round and finishing 11-11.
Junior 6-foot guard Mikey Lucia, who scored 14 points against Saunders and 9 against Rye, leads the Lakeland returners in points, rebounds, and minutes from last year, starting all 22 games a season ago.
“He will take on a bigger role with ball handling, rebounding and solid defense,” said second-year Lakeland coach Shawn Sullivan.
Senior 6-4 forward Aadi Sandhu is another key returnee.
“Aadi started over 15 games last year and should provide us with strong wing play with shooting, rebounding and defending other top players,” Sullivan said.
Seniors, 5-10 guard Anthony D'Errico, 5-10 guard Joe LaPeruta, 5-10 guard CC Savastano, and 6-foot forward Luke Lulanaj, along with junior 6-foot guard Anthony Ray are Lakeland’s other returnees.
“We will need our returning seven players to lead the team in all aspects of the game from scoring to rebounding to leadership,” Sullivan said. “This group all got valuable minutes last year and are ready to step up and lead us to a successful season.”
Juniors, 6-2 forward Louis Murray. 6-foot guard Patrick Gibson, 5-10 guard Mike Zumatto and 5-10 guard Nick Uribe, and sophomores, 6-1 guard Mateo Lugo, and 6-5 forward Aidan Leonard, and senior 6-1 forward Ethan Pomerantz are the Hornets’ newcomers.
“Louis, Aidan and Ethan will provide us with a strong inside attack and rebounding,” Sullivan said. “Patrick, Mike, Nick and Mateo will provide us with strong outside shooting and solid defense on the perimeter.”
Lakeland opens its season at home against Peekskill, a Section 1 Class AA semifinalist last season, at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4.
“Our goals are always the same—be playing our best basketball by the end of the season,” Sullivan said. “We hope to have steady improvement throughout the season and compete for a league title.”
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