The moment a young squad went 12-6 and made a surprising run to the semifinals two seasons ago, the bar was raised for the Johnston girls’ basketball team.
It remains as high as ever this year.
With the core of that semifinal team still in the fold, the Panthers are optimistic they can fill a few holes, embrace a new style and deliver another big season.
“It’s been going well,” said head coach Chris Corsinetti. “Practices have been upbeat and the girls are excited. We lost our interior game but we’ve got our nucleus back. It’s exciting.”
Johnston built on the 2012 playoff run with a 13-3 campaign last season. Unfortunately for the Panthers, it ended early. With point guard Isabella DiRaimo battling an injury, Johnston suffered an overtime loss to Coventry in the preliminary round of the D-II playoffs
That was a bump in the road, but the direction is still clear.
“There’s no question with the success we had two years ago and what we did last year, we expect to do well,” Corsinetti said.
The optimism begins with Johnston’s core group, led by senior captains Aziza Asad and Alex DiRaimo and the junior class that burst onto the scene in the semifinal run two years ago. Isabella DiRaimo and Karina Mattera have been the team’s leading scorers for two years running, and they both earned all-class honors in Division II last year. There’s depth behind them, too.
“We’ve got two good seniors,” Corsinetti said. “Alex has a ton of experience and Aziza played very well for us last year. Then those juniors have obviously had a lot of success.”
The only missing piece is experience in the paint. Arianna Caffeso and Lauren Barnes graduated, leaving a hole in the defense and rebounding departments.
“Losing the interior players is going to hurt most on defense,” Corsinetti said. “They were animals under there, great rebounders, great defenders.”
Without them, Johnston will have a smaller lineup. Isabella DiRaimo and junior Francesca Gaudiana will handle the guard spots, with Mattera on a wing and Alex DiRaimo at the power forward position. Junior Angela Gallucci is the likely starter at center.
“It’s definitely a different look,” Corsinetti said. “My center and my point guard are about the same size.”
Sophomore Jenna Pizzi saw a lot of time as Isabella DiRaimo’s back-up last year and will provide depth in the back-court, along with Asad. Junior Dana Desmarais, a volleyball standout, is back on the team after not playing basketball last year and should be a big help in the post. Junior Lauren Tedesco, and sophomores Kristina DiMascio and Renee DeAngelis may also be in the mix.
Without the experience in the post, Corsinetti is pushing a new approach at both ends of the court.
“We’re preaching defense more than ever,” he said. “We’re going to look to trap and do the things we need to do to create some offense.”
When they have the ball, the Panthers will spread things out more than they have in the past.
“It’s going to be more of a five-out, everyone on the perimeter type of offense,” Corsinetti said. “We were going to try to do that last year but I think it really fits us even better now. We want to give our perimeter players room to operate and make things happen.”
However the offense looks, it’s a safe bet that Isabella DiRaimo and Mattera will be scoring.
“They’re going to carry out scoring load,” Corsinetti said. “No surprise there. I think the whole state knows at this point that they’re our scorers.”
Alex DiRaimo, Gaudiana and Pizzi have also been able to chip in offensively the past few years, and they’ll be looking to do the same this season.
All in all, the Panthers think they’re in good shape again.
It might even be time to raise the bar.
“With our experience the last two years,” Corsinetti said, “our goal is to get to the state championship.”
Johnston opens the season with an Injury Fund game today at 5 p.m., at Juanita Sanchez. They’ll play in the Pink Madness Classic this weekend at Ponaganset High School, with a Saturday game at 1 p.m. and a Sunday game at 4 p.m.
League play does not begin until Jan. 6.
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