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TAYLOR MADE: GIRLS WINTER SPORTS IN 2020-2021, A LOOK AHEAD (2020-03-26)

Tioga County Sports Report
TIOGA COUNTY — If you enjoy high school girls basketball, you're going to love the 2020-21 season. And if you're a true fan, you're probably already aware of what could be.

Five of the seven girls who made the All-Tioga County Girls Top 10 Athletes of the Winter list will be seniors and another will be a junior.

Keep your eye on Newark Valley. This team is going to be awesome. Why? The Cardinals don't have any one superstar, but instead have a very well-balanced roster. Any one of them can step up and pick up the slack if a teammate has an off night. 

Don't overlook the fact that NV graduates three players from this year's 22-1 team, but only one starter. Point guard Kendra Morris knew how to steer the offense up the court and that is one aspect NV coach Greg Schweiger will need to address (although I think he may already have).

I am certainly NOT a basketball expert, so I can't tell you who the next PG will be, but I was impressed with how much Allie Wandell's ball-handling skills improved from last season to this one. I've also heard Taylor Benjamin's name tossed around as a potential successor to Morris. Regardless of who gets the call, they will have quite a cast to work with.

You've got your "bigs," Mackenna Nechwedowich and Grace Gardner, who should dominate inside. Another "big," Cha Gardner, showed a lot of potential off the bench, although there was the occasional reminder that she's only an 8th-grader.

Bri Beebe brings an intensity to the hardwood (as does Wandell) and when she gets hot from long range, look out. Sophomore Hannah Ferguson is another dangerous downtown bomber — and she loves to "knock 'em down" from the corner.

It will be interesting to see who comes up from NV's IAC JV Large School championship team.

Away from Newark Valley, there are several standouts coming back as well.

Owego's Evee Coleman and Candor's Braelyn Hornick were the only players to average double-doubles this winter. Coleman scored 20.2 points and snagged 13 rebounds per game while Hornick had matching 13.4 averages in those same categories. Of course, Coleman won't have Penn State-bound standout Kaci Donovan around and Hornick's sidekick, Jennah Kareem, are both graduating, leaving both teams with major holes to fill.

Tioga and Waverly return their top players in juniors Olivia Ayres and Sidney Tomasso, respectively. Tomasso is dangerous at either end of the floor and at the charity stripe. She averaged just under 20 points per game and hit 85 percent of her free throws while Ayres (14.3 ppg) drained 62 3-pointers.

Candor graduates just one other senior, Kylie Streeter, but Owego and S-VE lose five apiece, and Waverly graduates four. Sophomore Sophia Dutra will be the Panthers' top returnee, but they will look to benefit from a JV team which won the IAC JV Small School championship.

Candor returns seven players, Owego brings back six, NV has eight returnees, S-VE has four, Tioga returns four and Waverly has five.

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TOUGH AS NAILS
On the wrestling mats, Tioga freshman Emily Sindoni posted a 22-15 record with 17 bonus-point wins.

Competing at 120 pounds, and later at 113, she helped the Tigers win the IAC Division I dual meet and tournament titles, the Section IV Division II dual meet, Qualifier A and overall championships, and the NYSPHSAA Division II crown.

She placed second at the IAC championships, third at the Sgt. Justin Rodgers Memorial Tournament, fifth in the sectional qualifier, fifth at the section al qualifier and sixth at the prestigious Peru Wrestling Invitational. Sindoni also posted a 2-0 record at the NYSPHSAA Division II Dual Meet Championship.

I've been told there are 23 girls certified to wrestle in Section IV. Apparently, that is one of the smaller turnouts in New York state. Of the young ladies I saw wrestling this season, she was the top grappler.

In a sport dominated by the opposite sex, girls wrestling is growing in popularity and support, but still struggles to gain the approval of a lot of the "old school" people — you know, the ones who still believe a woman's place is in the kitchen. With the popularity of girls wrestling on the rise despite the fact the state is slow to come around, Sindoni is showing other girls that they can compete with the boys if they put their mind to it.

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TRACK TAKES A HIT
Indoor track & field will get tagged with key graduation losses next season as several top local athletes will be graduating.

Actually, Owego's losses will be minimal — just one senior — however the Indians had a very small girls team.

S-VE's lone competitor, Ryleigh Clark, is a senior. She had an impressive rookie season in the triple and long jump. I was really looking forward to seeing how she would do during the outdoor season, but I believe NYSPHSAA will end up canceling the spring season due to the coronavirus.

Waverly's losses are even greater. Record setters Elizabeth Fritzen, Melina Ortiz, Cora Smith and Sheridan Talada have finished their high school indoor careers, as have Paige Ackley, Marissa Eisenhower, Zoey Lunduski, Rachel Ovedovitz and Alyssa Simonetti. The Wolverines' numbers were down this season also with just 14 on the roster.


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