Maureen Gigliello calls the feeling around Stella Maris girls basketball team a “heightened sense of emotions.” The Rockaway Park school will close its doors after 66 years in June and while the players try to put it out of mind, the reality is still there.
“All of them are upset about the school closing,” the coach said. “Every game is the last time we are in the gym.”
They certainly left themselves something to remember Monday.
The Flippers knocked off defending diocesan champion St. John’s Prep, 70-61, in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division II. As the final seconds ticked off sophomore guard Ashley Raaf, who scored 18 points and connected on three 3-pointers, hugged the basketball and went running into a mob of screaming teammates.
“It was probably the best feeling in the world knowing that we finally had the courage as a team and came together to make it happen,” she said.
Stella (6-5, 6-4 B/Q) started the season with just three players returning: Raaf, forward Jen Miller and Kerry Gleason. It has taken time for the team, with 10 new faces, to jell but it has happened at the right time. The Flippers have won three straight, and four of their last five, including a victory over St. Saviour. They have put themselves in the diocesan title discussion.
“It’s like they are holding something right in front of you,” said Miller, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds. “With playoffs coming up and championships coming up, it’s a great feeling to know you are right there.”
After a slow start Stella began rolling in the second quarter. Raaf, who also plays soccer at the school, hit a 3-pointer to spark a 19-0 run. The 6-foot-1 Miller was a force inside, on the defensive glass, finishing strong at the rim and blocking shots. She scored off a strong move in the post to give her team a 41-26 lead with 35 seconds left in the first half.
St. John’s Prep (8-2, 8-2) tried to collapse on her, only opening up the Flippers’ outside shooters. They connected on seven shots from behind the arc in the game, Jaci Clyde had 11 points and Jen Boyle added eight.
“As soon as I start going in they usually jump on me,” Miller said. “It leaves a lot more room for the 3-point shooters like Ashley to do what they have to do.”
Added Gigliello: “They drive off of Jen and Ashley. Once those two get into their comfort level it goes back and forth and they all settle in.”
St John’s Prep was missing starters Korin Warren and Paige Serrano. Both were home sick. Stars Lashonda Hathorne and Anna Christodoulou were both held scoreless in the second quarter. Hathorne scored just eight points in the game and fouled out early in the fourth, while Christodoulou went off in the second half, scoring 20 of her 22 points after the break. The Red Storm cut the lead to 40-35 early in the third and 54-51 on a Christodoulou layup with 6:03 remaining in the game. Alexis Rulnick-Perez added 12 points.
“The three got me nervous,” Gigliello said.
She challenged her team to simply win the next few minutes and they did. The lead ballooned back to 65-51 when Raaf fed Miller with a slick pass on the fast break for a layup and came smiling back up the court with 3:00 to go in the game. The win locks up a fourth-place finish for the Flippers and placed St. John’s Prep in a tie with Fontbonne Hall for the top spot in the division.
When the Stella Maris players exited the locker room they receive a loud ovation from their parents waiting in the gym for them. Just another memory of a place they don’t plan on letting go of anytime soon.
“We realized that we are the last team. We just want to play,” Raaf said. … “The school closing isn’t going to stop us.”