Moving down wasn’t Rocco Sellitto’s first preference. The Bishop Kearney girls basketball coach was adamant about staying in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I despite a disappointing and underachieving season.
“I was always the type that if things are going to be tough you just work harder,” the second-year coach said. “That’s how I think of things. That’s why I think I differed a little bit in that scenario.”
The school and athletic director Anthony Troiano felt the task of rebuilding the proud program playing at the highest level would be too big a task after its varsity and JV teams did not win a game against a league opponent last season. The Tigers season ended in a CHSAA Class A state play-in game loss to St. Francis Prep with an 8-18 overall record.
“It’s definitely tough, but it’s the sign of the times,” Troiano said. “We have to adapt to what’s going on around us. I didn’t think it was a difficult decision. I thought it was a necessary decision.”
Sellitto respects the choice made by the school that was announced to the league’s coaches via email Wednesday, but didn’t feel like the losing affected his entire team during the season, feeling that they bounced back and gave an effort after losses. Sellitto admitted that it was a difficult year and losing forward Taylor Raccuglia to a dislocated shoulder early in the league season didn’t help.
“My first impression is going to be we will we take our bumps, just like Loughlin did their first year back in the league,” Sellitto said. “We have been in the league, but the personell changes. It’s not like a college were you go out and get top players all the time.”
The Tigers varsity went 0-16 with a roster that included seven seniors including Sam Retas and Raccuglia. Juniors Justine Vento, Cathy Wesolowski and Allison Gasparino all saw some time.
The league changed drastically this year with the addition of eventual state Federation Class AA champion Nazareth, the No. 6-ranked team in the country by USA Today. Kearney lost its CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens diocesan playoff game 70-28 against mostly the Lady Kingsmen’s freshmen.
“It’s so hard to look these kids in the face on a day of a game,” Troiano said.
Kearney competed in league play against the lower end of the division and even lost just 65-56 at home to Christ the King. The prospects of that continuing didn’t look good for next year with a JV team that did not win a game against a division opponent and lost twice to Brooklyn rival Fontbonne Hall, which plays in Division II.
“By the end of it we were like this needs to change or we were all going to go crazy,” Vento said of the losing. … “I think we all need to step back and work on ourselves.”
The players were taken by surprise by the move since Kearney along with St Francis Prep and Christ the King were the only teams in the diocese which had always played at the league’s highest level. While there is some disappointment in not getting a chance to play against the likes of the Royals, Mary Louis and Molloy, the move was welcomed by the players.
“We all have talent, so hopefully having that little boost of confidence that we can compete will push us into proving what we really can do,” Vento said.
Kearney won state Federation Class C titles in 1998 and 2002 under longtime coach Cathy Crockett. The Tigers also boast the league’s all-time leading scorer in Janelle McManus (2,274 career points), who graduated in 2000. Crockett, who stepped down two years ago to spend more time with her family, was disappointed by the news, but felt it was the right move for the program at this time after watching a game in late February.
“When I was coaching the mentality there was that no team could come in there and mark down a ‘W,’” Crockett said. … “They just didn’t come out with that fire … I had a feeling when I left that day that they would going to be moving down. I didn’t feel like they were competitive enough.”
For Sellitto the plan is to move forward in the program’s new path with the same approach he has always had, making his players better as the season goes on. It’s something that worked recently for Bishop Ford and then-coach Denis Nolan in 2004 and 2005 and Bishop Loughlin, which went to the CHSAA Division II diocesan final in 2008 and 2009 .
The Lions were winless in their first year back in Division I two years ago, but this year Loughlin placed sixth with a 5-9 record and have the program on an upward swing. They were in position to finish as high as fourth after posting a win over league power Mary Louis. Kearney is hoping for similar results and a short stay in Division II.
“Now that we are moving down the goal is to move up to the other division again,” Sellitto said. … “We will put a new plan in place for building for those two years, with the hope that we are going to get back at the end of that.”