Last year, the Johnston girls’ basketball team put together its best season since 2004-05, finishing 14-4 and making a run to the Division II semifinals.
While the season was a high point, it also marked the end of an era. Head coach Dan Mazzulla retired after 22 years at the helm, and a big senior class – which included 1,000-point scorer Alaina DeNoncour and every other starter – graduated.
As the Panthers open the new season, there are still links to the past. A few players are back with experience and longtime assistant Chris Corsinetti is taking over for Mazzulla.
But it’s definitely a new beginning.
“We’re rebuilding,” Corsinetti said. “We lost five starters, one of them a first-team All-Stater. So it’s basically a whole new team, but we’ve got a really nice crop of young kids. It’s exciting.”
The Panthers expect to have some ups and downs, but that excitement should remain. They’re hoping to contend for a playoff spot this year and they’re looking to build a solid foundation for the future.
“Our motto so far has been to do better today than you did yesterday,” Corsinetti said. “They know what they have ahead of them and they’re excited about it.”
With all five starters gone to graduation, the Panthers don’t have a lot of experience to lean on, but a handful of players have seen varsity minutes. Seniors Danielle Gawlik, Ashley Peterson and Brianna Ruggiero are serving as captains.
“Even the seniors we have don’t have a lot of game experience, but they’re good leaders,” Corsinetti said. “Our captains are doing a nice job. The kids respect them and they do a good job organizing things. I couldn’t ask for better captains.”
The rest of the roster has a mix of a few other veterans with some experience and a host of younger players. Together, they give the Panthers a lot of depth, and there isn’t much of a gap between any of them.
“We’ve got 20 players in the program and, to be honest, they’re all just about on an even playing field,” Corsinetti said. “I can’t even single anybody out at this point. We’re playing a lot of people, and we’re excited to have a good mix.”
Seniors Lindsey Haskins and Sara DeSalvo are back in the fold from last year, along with juniors Larissa Nasisi, Alexandra Robbins, Lauren Barnes, Patrice Amore, Ariana Caffeso, Madison Mansolillo and Amanda Colombo. Sophomore Alex DiRaimo is back after seeing some time as a freshman, and sophomore Aziza Asad is also on the squad.
The rest of the roster features six freshmen – Isabella DiRaimo, Lauren Tedesco, Francesca Gaudiana, Dana Desmarais, Karina Mattera and Christina Hardman. Several of them are pushing for immediate playing time.
“We’re adjusting to the personnel we have,” Corsinetti said. “You never plan on playing this many freshmen, but they’re a good group and they’re playing well. Our overall numbers in the program are down a little bit, but the quality is good. The future looks very bright.”
As for the present, Corsinetti likes the depth – and is giving everybody a chance to be part of it.
“We played 11 the other night against Ponaganset and we could have played 13 if not for a couple of injuries,” Corsinetti said. “It’s a good problem to have because everybody is working their butts off. They see the opportunity.”
The Panthers have already taken the court twice for non-league games. They had their struggles in their opener against D-I Smithfield, but Corsinetti thought the team took a step forward in Sunday’s game against Ponaganset.
“Smithfield was kind of an eye opener for us,” Corsinetti said. “They’re a D-I team but they’re also a team we’ve competed with in the past, and we didn’t play well this time. Ponaganset, the effort was better and the execution was better. Every day, we’re going to improve.”
Now the Panthers get to see how far the improvement can take them. They were scheduled to open league play on Wednesday against Classical and they’ll visit Hope today at 4:30 p.m.
“Every team’s goal is to make the playoffs,” Corsinetti said. “We’re realistic. High-school basketball is an upperclassmen-dominated sport. We’re going to have our ups and downs, but we’re going to keep working.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here