Greeley hasn't had many laughers this year, but this one was.

Greeley dominated in every single facet of the game right from the opening tipoff. This was unexpected, since Somers played Greeley real tough a couple of weeks ago.

Somers has a very thin bench and their 5 starters are oftentimes asked to play the entire game. This can wear down even the very best of players...and Somers has a real good one in Kaitlyn O'Sullivan, who tried valiantly to keep Somers in the game.

But this was just not Somers' day. They had scored only 12 points heading into the 4th quarter.

For the Quakers, Jaclyn Miller had 12 points, Sammy Seif had 8, and each of Courtney Miller and Erin Jackson had 7. Ariel Coreth provided a spark off the bench with 6 points, as did Yanna Jackson with 3 blocks.  ^^Top
 

After losing to Smithtown and Scarsdale, the team rebounded nicely with wins over Ossining and JJCR.

They could have brought that momentum into their game against Lakeland, but instead brought lethargy and overconfidence into Lakeland's gym.

They clearly underestimated Lakeland, which wasn't very smart since Steve Fallo is a great coach, Lakeland plays very tough D and their sophomore, Tori Jarosz, is the real deal...possibly on her way to becoming the best player in the section.

Lakeland is not the team they were last year when they rocked the section (and just about everyone else in the state), but they are still a very good team.

Greeley did the following poorly--shooting, passing, rebounding and defense.

Greeley did the following well--nothing.

Lakeland was ahead the entire game and never looked back or backed down.

One can only hope that the Greeley girls have a different attitude when Lakeland comes to Greeley for the last game of the regular season.  ^^Top
 

In an exciting and hard-fought game, Greeley bounced back from its disappointing loss to Scarsdale with a 61-58 victory on the road at Ossining.

Despite an eye-opening 10 turnovers in the first quarter and 28 turnovers for the game, the Quakers managed to score 61 points, led by the clutch shooting of Jaclyn Miller (16 points) and forwards Taylor (12 points) and Erin (10 points) Jackson.

Taylor had an incredible 11 steals in the game, while Courtney Miller had 12 rebounds and 7 assists. The Quakers were able to overcome their turnovers by causing Ossining to turn the ball over more than 20 times.

After trailing by 16-14 after the first quarter, the Quakers’ defense responded by holding Ossining to 9 points in the second quarter enroute to a 28-25 half-time lead.

Ossining’s scoring and rebounding leader, Brittany Garrett (19 points, 15 rebounds) together with Alex Venuto (16 points, 7 steals and 3 assists) led Ossining’s third quarter comeback and the Quakers found themselves trailing 36-34 before Jaclyn Miller torched Ossining from the outside with two three-point shots, followed by a lay-up, ultimately enabling Greeley to claim a 46-38 lead through three quarters.

After a lay-up by Kelsey Hill gave the Quakers a 60-50 lead with 2:33 to go in the game, the Quakers relaxed and Ossining took advantage by storming back to within 2 points at 60-58. Jaclyn Miller hit a clutch free throw to give the Quakers a three point lead.

Following a controversial jump ball call after a defensive rebound by Christina Kiernan (who had a total of 7 rebounds for the game) off of a missed three point shot, Ossining had one more opportunity to send the game into overtime, but Nicole Trombetto’s shot was short and the Quakers escaped with the victory.

Although one cannot say a team played well if it turns the ball over 28 times, the Quakers put forth a tremendous effort and showed great heart and determination in winning on the road against a solid Ossining team. If they take better care of the ball and play with intensity and as a team for 32 minutes, the Quakers have a chance for a truly memorable season.  ^^Top
 

Smithtown West (LI) is a non-league opponent which Greeley faced for the first time in recent memory and knew very little about.

Smithtown quickly proved a worthy opponent. Smithtown featured a 6-4 center and two talented wing scorers.

Although the Quakers led 10-8 after the first period, it became evident they would have their hands full with Smithtown's size and talent. Smithtown outscored Greeley 17-6 in the second period, taking a 25-16 halftime lead behind some stingy team defense that did not allow much inside scoring by the Quakers.

The third period was high-scoring and saw Smithtown outscore the Quakers 21-20 and lead 46-36 after three periods as the game began to open up.

That is when the Quakers utilized their high pressure defense and kicked it into high gear, forcing Smithtown into numerous turnovers and allowing Greeley to claw back into the game. However, Greeley had difficulty generating a consistent offensive game other than Jaclyn Miller's perimeter shooting. While Greeley outscored Smithtown 14-10 in the final period, the Quakers fell short, falling to Smithtown 56-50 for their first loss of the season.

Jaclyn Miller led the Quakers with 22 points while Taylor Jackson chipped in 10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Courtney Miller added 6 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.  ^^Top
 

Greeley faced perhaps its toughest opponent of the early season. The Pearl River Pirates came into the game with a 4-1 record and the highest-ranked Class A team in the Section.

The Pirates rely on full court pressure defense and aggressive offensive driving penetration to wear down opponents and compensate for their loss of last season's top two scorers.

In the first period, the pace was quick and up tempo. Pearl River full court pressed after their scores and the Quakers attacked the pressure right back at them, scoring on several layups by Erin Jackson and Kelsey Hill against the press off of pinpoint passing feeds from Courtney Miller.

Though the Quakers led 18-14 after the first period, they suffered some early foul trouble as Taylor Jackson, their leading scorer, committed two fouls in the early going and was sent to the bench halfway through the period for the remainder of the half.

The second period, like the first, went back and forth with each team deploying different styles of play than they are accustomed to. Pearl River took off the full court press and decided to play more of a half court defensive game. Greeley unleashed their new weapon, Jaclyn Miller, who made her season debut returning from a leg injury that delayed the start to her season. Miller connected on several perimeter shots while sister Courtney controlled the floor play, registering multiple steals, assists and rebounds to help Greeley maintain the lead. The Quakers held a 32-26 lead at the half.

Greeley continued their solid effort in the second half by building an 8-point lead at the end of the third period at 47-39 heading into the final period.

Greeley played some of their best basketball of the season to start the fourth period, taking a 12-point lead at midway with an aggressive zone defense and overall team quickness that seemed to bother the Pirates and forced them into numerous turnovers.

However, Pearl River, proving the quality of their team, continued to play hard, drive the ball aggressively to the basket and displayed some excellent interior passing against Greeley's zone, clawing their way back within 4 points late in the game.

The Quakers showed their veteran poise in the end by sinking key foul shots and some timely perimeter shots by Jaclyn Miller in the late going.

Greeley prevailed with a 63-57 win, maintaining a perfect 7-0 record. The Quakers were led by Jaclyn Miller's 18 points while Erin Jackson added 17. Courtney Miller played another stellar overall floor game registering 7 points, 12 assists and 8 steals.  ^^Top
 

The Bears came into the Horace Greeley gymnasium with only one thing on their minds---UPSET!

They were 2-4, Greeley was 5-0, and a win versus Greeley would jump start their sluggish season.

Well, the Bears didn't win, but they came really close and definitely came away strong and proud.

Greeley jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but gave away points towards the end of the first quarter and only led 14-10 after one.

At the half, Greeley lead 22-16. After three, it was all knotted up at 35. Why and how did this happen? Because the Quakers missed about 20 layups, that's how! You cannot expect to beat a solid, defensive-minded team like Brewster if you miss that many easy shots.

It was back and forth in the fourth quarter, with Brewster eventually going up by 3 with two minutes to go. Fortunately for Greeley, the Bears' star freshman, Emily Tapio (who had an excellent game, scoring 20), was called on a couple of traveling violations and Greeley managed to sink a few buckets to pull out the victory.

Taylor Jackson had 23 points, giving her a total of 50 in the last two games. Courtney Miller had 7 points, 11 bounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.

Next up.....Pearl River, a team which many people believe can win the state title in Class A.  ^^Top
 

Greeley faced a tall order with the rival Yorktown Huskers.

When teams play their arch rivals, all the credentials, team records and play prior to the game are meaningless and can be thrown out the window. Rival teams typically play with extra emotion and aggressiveness. Yorktown visiting Greeley in the first round of the Greeley tournament was no different.

The Huskers played well enough and hard enough, defying their 1-3 record coming into the game. The first period was a high-scoring affair that saw the Quakers face an attacking offense led by sophomore Onyx Mintah and Allison Palmadesso. Yorktown featured drives to the basket often times catching the Quakers flat footed and unable to slow down the Huskers. Consequently, Greeley allowed 13 first period points but still led Yorktown 15-13 behind some easy baskets of their own led by Taylor Jackson.

Early into the second period, it became evident that Greeley found a hole in the Yorktown transition defense. The Quakers improved their half court defense and got a series of defensive stops which allowed them to bust out and run the fastbreak, fueled by point guard Courtney Miller. Miller found Taylor Jackson early and often, connecting on several fastbreak baskets (à la Stockton to Malone) that saw Greeley outscore Yorktown 21-8 and race to a 36-21 lead at the half.

Yorktown attempted to respond to the Quakers' run in spite of some foul trouble that sent their center, Mintah, to the bench at the 4 minute mark. Yorktown utilized perimeter shooting to compensate for Greeley's tough inside defense. The Quakers had their lowest scoring period of the game but still led 47-31 at the end of the third.

Greeley brought the victory home with more tough defense in the fourth period, causing numerous turnovers and steals resulting in easy transition baskets.

Opening up a comfortable lead halfway through the period allowed for Coach Lops to clear the bench to give some valuable playing time to the underclassmen. Greeley cruised home to a 63-42 win.

Taylor Jackson led the Quakers with 27 points and 10 rebounds, her first double double of the early season. Courtney Miller did her best Jason Kidd impression nearly posting a triple double with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals. Erin Jackson also turned in another fine game posting 11 points and another good defensive game despite some foul trouble. Greeley's record stands at 5-0.  ^^Top
 

This game can be best described as one that didn't end the way it started.

Greeley came into the game clearly the more experienced, superior team and riding a 3-game win streak, against a Somers team which lost some key players to graduation, has a first year coach and had dropped two of its first three games. As they say in sport, "that's why you play the game!"

Somers proved to be a pesky opponent even after some early dominance by the Quakers. Somers utilized a well drilled offense and solid rebounding to stay within striking distance of Greeley.

When the Quakers threatened to pull away from Somers in the first half and create an insurmountable lead, the Tuskers fought right back with timely cuts for easy layups and offensive rebounding. Somers cut the first half lead to 8 points after Greeley held as much as a 14-point lead earlier in the half behind a full-court pressing defense.

Greeley came out for the second half very aggressive defensively, building a lead once again that reached double digits behind intense defensive pressure.

Again, the Tuskers fought back behind the offensive play of senior Kaitlyn O'Sullivan and a stingy zone defense. Somers cut the Quaker's lead down to four points with minutes remaining in the game.

Greeley got some breathing room behind timely baskets by Sammy Seif, Kristin Graves and Taylor Jackson. Greeley pulled away in the final minutes to finally finish off the Tuskers 57-43 in a game that was closer than the score indicated.

Taylor Jackson led the Quakers with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while Courtney Miller turned in another all-around game registering 7 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals and 8 assists. Sammy Seif continued to build on her reliable outside shooting, tallying a season-high 9 points. Kristen Graves also added 8 points and 4 rebounds.

The Quakers improved to 4-0 headed into this weekend's Greeley Basketball Tournament. Come out and support the Boys' and Girls' Varsity and JV teams!  ^^Top
 

Coming into the game, the Beacon Bulldogs carried some impressive credentials.

Beacon returned four starters from last season's Class A Section 1 Finalist team that lost to the eventual State Champion Lakeland High by four points. They visited Greeley with a 2-0 record having beaten their first two opponents by an average of 28 points.

However, it became evident early in this game that Beacon had met their stiffest test of the early season.

Greeley's defensive pressure, overall team quickness and speed proved too much for the Bulldogs, who clearly struggled to get into an offensive flow in the early going.

Greeley, not to be outdone, sputtered offensively, missing shots on some early fastbreak opportunities after causing numerous Beacon turnovers. Greeley's continual perimeter defensive disruption lead by Kelsey Hill, Erin Jackson, and Courtney Miller kept the Bulldogs at bay, giving up only three first period points and springboarding Greeley to a 9-3 lead.

In the second period, both teams played fairly evenly as Beacon began to get some offensive traction against the Quakers, finishing with 7 period points but still trailing Greeley 19-10 at the half.

The third period was all Greeley. The Quakers outscored Beacon 12-3 behind Taylor Jackson's and Kristina Kiernan's inside scoring and rebounding dominance.

The score was 31-13 Greeley heading into the fourth period, providing the Quakers with a formidable lead to bring this victory home.

That's when the game got a little dicey. Beacon, utilizing some defensive pressure of their own and some timely long range shooting, cut the gap to 10 points before Coach Lops had to call back her starters, who had been resting comfortably on the bench, to close out the game 46-34.

Taylor Jackson led the Quakers with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. Sammy Seif finished with 7 points and once again coolly converted some timely outside jumpers in crunch time. Courtney Miller and Erin Jackson stuffed the stat lines with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, respectively.

Greeley remained undefeated through their first three games.  ^^Top
 

Regina came into the game with a 3-0 record, having beaten their first three opponents soundly. Greeley quickly proved to be Regina's best opponent of the early season.

Once again, the Quakers started poorly finding themselves down 7-1 in the early going. Greeley turned the ball over several times leading to easy scores for Regina. Regina, like Greeley, is a senior-laden team that was comprised of excellent outside shooters and strong ballhandlers who hurt the Quakers in the first period with dribble penetration.

The second period was a different story. The Quakers began to adjust on defense, showing an ability to stop the ball on the dribble and play very good help defense, which strangled the Regina attack. The Quaker front line of Kristina Kiernan and Taylor Jackson along with point guard Courtney Miller rebounded the ball well to ignite the Quaker fastbreak, allowing them to run out to an 8-point second period lead. Regina responded quickly, cutting the gap to 3 points at halftime.

Regina regained the lead in the 3 period for a brief time and the teams remained close.

The 4th period went back and forth before the Quakers extended a lead to 8 points with just under 4 minutes remaining in the game behind some timely outside shooting by Sammy Seif.

The mentally tough Regina team responded again to cut the lead to two points at 47-45 with 2 minutes remaining. That's when Greeley showed their own true grit by outscoring Regina 10-2 to finish the game beating Regina 57-47 to win the White Plains Tournament!

Besides the first place trophy, Greeley brought home some additional hardware. Erin Jackson and Courtney Miller were named to the all-tournament team while Taylor Jackson was named the tournament MVP.

Congrats to the Quakers on a great start to the season!  ^^Top
 

The Quakers opened the season with a 44-25 victory over Rye in the first round of the White Plains Tournament.

Greeley eventually over came some opening game jitters to beat Rye with a stifling defense forcing the Tigers into multiple turnovers.

The Quakers raced to a 30-13 lead and never looked back. By the end of the third period, most of the Greeley starters were settled on the bench allowing for some valuable playing time for the young Quaker reserves.

Erin Jackson led all scorers with 16 points and 5 steals. Courtney Miller playing her first full game as the starting point guard proved she will be more than up to the task this season, registering 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Taylor Jackson also had a solid outing by scoring 8 points before succumbing to early foul trouble.

Greeley earned the right to play Maria Regina in Friday's championship game. Regina beat White Plains in the nightcap 58-47.  ^^Top