Tech, Classical girls prep for 2007-08 season

Tech girls basketball coach John Crowley will have his work cut out trying to replace some of the talent he lost from last year’s 18-5 team. The Tigers won the Commonwealth Conference Large the last three years and they reached the Division 3 North semifinals last year before losing to Manchester.This year will pose a few challenges. CAC Most Valuable Player Tamica Harris has graduated, as has starter Jewel Snyder. Shena Mitchell, who has backboned the Tigers’ success since she came on the scene as an eighth-grader, will miss her final season for medical reasons, leaving Tech without its most potent offensive weapon. Mitchell needed 35 points to hit the 1,000-career-point milestone.Crowley only had 20 girls show up for tryouts this week, the lowest he has had so far.”This is a very inexperienced group,” Crowley said. “Some of them are just learning the game.”Crowley does, however, have several returning players from last year who should help the cause considerably. Topping the list is senior Jessica Underwood, a four-year captain. Underwood, a league all-star, will be joined by senior Jennifer Vargas, a guard who averaged five or six points per game. Noellea Mateo, a four-year varsity player, should also provide the Tigers with some quality minutes along with Fanice Baptiste, a guard who will be called on to fill Harris’ shoes in terms of slowing down the other team’s top offensive threat.Although Crowley lost several players, he’s also getting one back. Zulieka Lopez, who missed her junior year due to medical issues, is back. Lopez was an all-star as a sophomore and was on her way to becoming quite an impact player before being sidelined last year.CLASSICALClassical coach Tom Sawyer is counting on a solid contingent of returning seniors and an assortment of talented underclassmen to get the job done this season. The Rams finished 7-13 last year.Graduation took its toll on Classical. Taneka Brown, the Rams’ main offensive threat, is playing at Merrimack College and Tonisha Tate has graduated. Tate missed most of her senior year with an injury. Lauren Kolodziej and Cierra Campbell also graduated.The good news for the Rams is that 51 players showed up for the first day of tryouts, including 18 freshmen. Sawyer was very happy with the freshman turnout, particularly given the fact the players turned out despite having to make the bus ride from Fecteau-Leary to the O’Callaghan Way school.Among the returning players are senior captains Jill Reddy, Keila Brown and Christina McKenzie. Reddy is a forward and Brown and McKenzie are guards. They’ll be joined by fellow seniors Shardaye Berry (forward), Shante Berry (guard) and Bryanna Connolly (guard).”We’re counting on Keila Brown to run the show, to get her own points and set up her teammates,” Sawyer said, adding he’s looking for McKenzie to pick up some of the offense he lost.”Everybody is going to have to pick up their game,” he said.Sawyer will be joined on the sidelines by Kevin McDormand and Matt Ridley, who will help out with the JV and varsity. Dennis Baldini will coach the junior varsity and Cara Baldini, a former Classical High player, will coach the freshmen along with Caileen Mahoney, a teacher at the school who played at Lynnfield High under former coach Brian McDormand.”We want to play hard, be competitive, play good defense and see what that brings us in terms of wins,” Sawyer said.