I hope everyone had a great holiday. Mine officially ended around 12:05 this afternoon when I arrived at the County Center for the beginning of the Slam Dunk.
We had a nice spread in the paper this morning outlining key story lines for this week’s tournament. On the girls side, Pearl River coach Lorraine Moylan will try to join exclusive company as only the second girls basketball coach in Section 1 history to win 500 games. The Pirates are on the court as I write this playing Brewster.
The boys feature focused on one of the section’s best newcomers, 6-foot-5 Kennedy senior Thiago Randazzo. He moved here from Brazil last winter. Although Randazzo was around the Gaels since January, he didn’t play for them until this season. He’s had almost an instant impact since.
Randazzo’s story is interesting because of his experience – or lack thereof. They don’t play high school basketball in Brazil, so Randazzo didn’t play competitively from his freshman year in high school until he joined Frank Kelly’s AAU team this past spring.
Randazzo moved here to pursue a Catholic education and a basketball future. He came to live with his uncle, Lou DeMello, the former Rice coach who now works at the Brewster Sports Center and whose son, Mike DeMello, is a sophomore point guard at Kennedy.
You can read more about my story in the link above, as well as five things to watch this week at the Slam Dunk.
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Obviously, I didn’t have a chance to give my predictions for the tournament yet. Here’s a quick look at who I like:
Challenge games:
Croton 54, Yonkers 23 (already complete)
Blind Brook 55, Sleepy Hollow 43
Mamaroneck 66, Brewster 57
Tournament 1:
White Plains 58, Albertus Magnus 53
Byram Hills 59, Poughkeepsie 58
Final – White Plains over Byram Hills
Tournament 2:
Jamestown 70, Kennedy 55
New Rochelle 71, Kingston 65
Final – New Rochelle 77, Jamestown 70
I’ll be back with a game thread for all of today’s games in a bit…
8 Comments
KINGSTON MIGHT JUST PULL THE UPSET,POUKEEPSIE WILL WIN
Hope you’re right, Haywood… Would love to be there, but I work nights…
Hey Josh u know Kingston beat St Marys right before St Marys beat newro. Second rd of the Albany tournament im picking kingston.
Mamaroneck 71- Brewster 52
Any word on the score of the BH /Poughkeepsie game?
Byram beat Poughkeepsie by 10. Note to Section 1 Phenom..A friend told me that Brewster was down 3 to Byram at Byram, with the ball, with a minute to play. Could be a better game then you think.
Lou de mello is a sleeze bag. He coached Felipee Lopez…so what. He has an ego bigger than the county center..he loves himself.. didnt know Demello was brazillian? Whats next uncle lou a 7 foot nephew from Africa? Paaaa llleeeeaaase
He is from brazil. Lou was born in rio where half of his family still lives. He lived there for many years and speaks Portuguese fluently. In fact it was his first language. “DeMello” is a very common Brazilian name. No one can argue that he has been a successful coach beyond Felipe. Ask how many D1 players he has sent to college on full rides. You are obviously jealous, stupid and uneducated. Goodluck to you.