Girls Basketball
After a fairly dismal 2008-2009 season, it would appear that the Eastchester girls basketball program is turning the corner after an inspired 9-11 run this year. According the head coach Chris Fiore, the most important difference between this season and the lackluster campaign of a year ago wasn’t a question of talent, but was a question of attitude. With a solid core of returnees, Fiore hopes to build on the momentum of the team.
“I would say that given the nucleus of the girls that are coming back and the makeup of the way the team looks, we’ve got a solid core, and a very positive nucleus.”

The Eagles will lose four seniors, however, as Kelly Brucale, Diana Arcidiacono, Colleen Stewart and Emily McMahon will all move on.

“Those girls were very important to the success that we’ve had,” explains Fiore. “Not just from an offensive or a defensive standpoint, but also in terms of chemistry. It will be tough to replace them.”

But with a handful of younger players who played a big part in the success of this season, like Adrianna Rosales, Hannah Kutzin, Christiana Galella, Janine Lalli and Gloria Nicholson coming back, the task is far from impossible.

Adding to that core will be a handful of impressive underclassmen from this year’s JV squad, a powerhouse that lost just one game - a hotly contested battle with Scarsdale.

“We’re definitely going to try to build off the success of the JV this year,” says Fiore. “We’re going to try to use their style of play, which is to take the advantage when it is there, and to grind games out when it’s not. They have that experience of playing together. You just hope that the girls stick with it and we can fit them in with the rest of the girls.”

Boys Basketball
If the girls’ turnaround was something of a surprise to area fans, so too was the inspired play of the boys. Early in the season, it was apparent that the well-balanced Eastchester team had the talent and the heart to compete at a high level, and they did just that, winning 10 of their first 12 games, and 13 in all to earning a 9th seed in the Class A playoffs.

Though they fell by 10 in their first-round game, Eastchester’s determination—their trademark—nearly helped them climb out of a double-digit deficit to steal the game away in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. The Eagles, no strangers to pulling out tight games, notched some truly impressive wins, including an 82-78 win over Tuckahoe in which they needed a fourth-quarter buzzer-beater and an overtime period to come away with the win, and heart-stopping 59-58 win over Walter Panas to claim the trophy of their holiday tournament.

While Eastchester will lose some valuable veterans, six-foot-two sophomore Dave Solano, who emerged as one of the premier big men in the around, will lead the Eagles in 2010-2011, as his continued maturation should make him even more dominant.

Girls Point Leaders
Colleen Stewart - 204
Adriana Rosales - 131
Janine Lalli - 103
Kelly Brucale - 99
Emily MacMahon - 87

Boys Point Leaders
Dave Solano - 307
Mike Satriale - 214
Tom Befi - 181
Tom Pinto - 177
Mike Aiello - 81