With seven strong players returning and several scrimmages under their belt, the Garnets are looking forward to a successful and fun season.

By Melanie Cane

With seven strong players returning and several scrimmages under their belt, the Garnets are looking forward to a successful and fun season. The veteran players include the three captains: seniors Holly Hunter and Laura Ann Pacos and junior Maddy Eck. The other returning players are juniors Alize Imam, Taylor Maurer, and Deidre Potter and sophomore Katie Popp. New to the varsity are juniors Lauren Dempsey and Arcadia Zahm, sophomores Kate Robbins and Amanda Hartzell, and freshman Eleanor Dailey.

Hunter and Pacos will start at center and shooting guard, respectively. Maurer will be the starting point guard. Eck, an All Section player, and a member of the All State team who led the Garnets in scoring and rebounding last year, is also one of the best defenders in Section I, and will play power forward. Popp, the other starting forward, was named Journal News sixth man of the year last season and Coach Dennis Hurlie expects her to have a breakout year. “Katie can really score and she rebounds extremely well. We will need her to do both for us to be successful.”

Of the team’s strengths, Hurlie said, “I think we will defend and push the ball up the floor very effectively. If the team rebounds well and takes care of the ball, we will be tough to be beat.”

Last season, the Garnets won the league title at 16-5 and lost in the Class A Sectional semifinals to Albertus Magnus. Coach Hurlie hopes to win the League title again and once again to advance to the County Center with a chance to win a Sectional title. For now, his main focus is to make sure the girls improve in every practice and game “If we do that we will be playing our best at the end of year and we will give ourselves a chance to finish well.”

The team is looking forward to the season getting started. They open at Hackley December 6 and host Albertus Magnus December 11. The Rotary Holiday Basketball Tournament is December 18-19 and the Garnets have invited New Rochelle, Briarcliff, and Mamaroneck. They take on Byram Hills December 26 at the County Center.