Well, we know now that Ed Grezinsky isn't triskaidekaphobic.
(Go ahead, I'll put the rest of the story on pause while you visit a dictionary)
The
Bergtraum (New York City) girls basketball coach came into the season appearing to be a player or two short of the program's usual standard of girls basketball supremacy. He came out of it Sunday the way he always, does – with another PSAL Class AA championship.
The Lady Blazers (22-3) defeated South Shore 56-48 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden to earn their 13th straight championship and a trip to Albany at the end of March for the Federation Tournament.
Junior guard
Shequana Harris, who finished with 14 points, made a 3-pointer with 5:32 to play for a 41-36 lead and another with 1:04 left for a 52-46 margin. Senior
Ashley Gomez added 13 points and
Monae Abrams worked the boards for 13 rebounds in the victory.
If the names don't look overly familiar, there's a reason. More so than in any recent season, Bergtraum won the title without marquee-quality names. As usual, most of the roster will go on to college, but none will enter Division I as bona fide superstars. But there's no disputing they have heart.
"This was the hardest-working group of kids I've had in 13 years and everybody doubted them," Grezinsky told The New York Post. "Nobody believed in them and they wouldn't give up. They wouldn't quit and they made it happen. This is the most satisfying season I've had in 13 years without a doubt."
The Lady Blazers will learn their next opponent this weekend at the conclusion of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships in Troy. The winner of the game between Bergtraum and the NYSPHSAA champ will face
Nazareth (Brooklyn).
Taylor Ford scored 18 points and
Bianca Cuevas added 16 as Nazareth fought off defending Federation champion Christ the King for a 62-58 victory in the CHSAA Class AA championship game Sunday.
Ford and most of the other Nazareth players attended St. Michael Academy in Manhattan last year. Officials announced the school was closing shortly after a loss to Christ the King in the 2010 CHSAA title game.
Nazareth held a 49-34 lead early in the fourth quarter but
Bria Smith scored 13 of her 27 points and
Nia Odom added 12 in the quarter as CTK cut the deficit to 59-55 with 32 seconds to play.
"At the end they made their last push," Nazareth coach Apache Paschall told the paper. "We took it and we stood."
BRIA SMITH WINS TOP AWARDBria Smith of Christ the King has been selected the 2011 recipient of the Miss Basketball Award, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York announced.
Smith, a University of Virginia recruit, averaged 21.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.7, assists and 3.6 steals per game at guard for the Royals. Last summer, she helped Team USA to the gold medal in the Under-17 World Championships in France.
She has been selected to play in Nike WBCA All-American Game at the 2011 Final Four and in the McDonald's All-American game in Chicago later this month.
She is the seventh Christ the King senior to win the state's most coveted girls basketball honor. The others were:
• 2007 - Lorin Dixon.
• 2006 - Tina Charles.
• 2005 - Carrem Gay.
• 1998 - Sue Bird.
• 1995 - Chamique Holdsclaw.
• 1986 - Margaret McKeon.
The other high-visibility girls basketball award was also handed out. Gatorade selected Cicero-North Syracuse junior
Breanna Stewart as its New York player of the year.
The 6-foot-4 junior forward has led the Northstars to a 20-2 record, the Section 3 Class AA championship and a berth in the state semifinals. She is averaging 24.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 5.4 blocks, 3.6 assists and three steals per game in the encore to her summer appearance with Team USA in the Under-17 World Championships.
Stewart recently committed to play for the University of Connecticut beginning in the fall of 2012.
Current UConn freshman Bria Hartley of North Babylon won the Gatorade award the previous two seasons.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at john.schiano@maxpreps.com.