Lady Rams basketball team off to fast start with McKayla, Uncle Danny leading the way
December 14, 2023 at 12:10 a.m.
It was shortly before the Lady Rams basketball team took the court against Scarsdale B, their winter season's first home game tune-up before the Louis Larizza Jr. Memorial Tournament last weekend (12/8/9) at Port Chester High School. Lady Rams head coach Danny Davis was talking about his team's potential, a disciplined blend of youth (eighth-grader McKayla McLoughlin), experience (seniors Samantha Munoz, Nagare Jones, Karah Provenzano and Elise Thomas) and bench strength (Alyssa Gagnon, Nataly Garcia and Analia Sosa, among others).
"I believe they are all ready for breakout seasons, McKayla because she's a year older, stronger, better after starting for us as point guard as a seventh-grader, and Sam (Munoz), Nagare, Karah and Elise because they've been playing together for a long while and have been through a lot together," Davis said.
The missing player
But the player he didn't mention was wunderkind Kayleigh Heckel, the Port Chester superstar who wasn't there, but was playing elsewhere for Long Island Lutheran (Luhi) as the transfer point guard for one of the nation's top ranked prep school teams.
Heckel, one of the best female basketball players in Port Chester history, loved playing for "Uncle Danny," as she called Davis, but felt she had to transfer to Luhi as a junior because she needed a national showcase to fulfill her dream of playing ultra-competitive Division One college basketball on scholarship.
And it turned out to be the right decision for her because she narrowed down her college choices to four national powerhouse teams that recruited her—Alabama and Tennessee in the South and the University of Southern California (USC) and Stanford, both West Coast prime time players. When she made her choice to sign with USC, she wanted "Uncle Danny" to be there with his assistant coach Jamie Florindi. And they were happy to comply.
Promising 8th-grader
"We're happy for Kayleigh and wish her the best," Davis said before his team went out to play Scarsdale B last Wednesday (12/6). But now he had another prodigy to think about in McLoughlin who, like Heckel, starts for the Lady Rams varsity as a Middle School student and looks even better than she did last year. Especially with the blend of veterans starting to come of age.
Davis was right on all counts. Because McKayla led the Rams with 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds—a near rare triple double—in a 48-20 win over a good Scarsdale team. Nazare, a rugged driving force, had 10 points, four assists and five rebounds and Karah, Sam and Elise all had solid games.
But the best was yet to come.
Double figures quartet
The Lady Rams had one of their most explosive offensive displays ever in their opening Larizza Tournament win against Carmel—a 60-19 romp over a strong team with four Lady Rams in double figures—led by McKayla with 12 and Sam, Karah and Nazare with 10—with Davis clearing the bench early so everybody got a chance to play, including Gagnon, Garcia, Sosa, Thomas, Swayda Hunter, Isabela Lopez, Gianna Rende, Yvonne Santiago and Julia Wolff.
They also gave perennial Section One championship contender Haldane a run for their money in the Larizza Tournament finals before losing by a deceptive 49-39 score, deceptive because the Lady Rams closed to within seven points with 2:33 left to play on a McLoughlin three-pointer from behind the key. But that was as close as the Lady Rams got—and that was too bad because had it not been for a defensive lapse—leaving Haldane's sharp shooter Camilla McDaniel wide open for four consecutive threes from the sideline—Port Chester was right there throughout the game.
Down, but not out
But the loss could have been a lot worse, and that foreboding had nothing to do with the score.
Because McKayla crashed to the floor during a collision under the basket and just laid there motionless for several minutes while the crowd grew hushed and Davis, Florindi and trainer Dave Sheridan hovered over her. But McKayla is a baller, a gamer, the quarterback on the otherwise all-male junior varsity football team, a swimmer for the elite Badgers Swim Team, a star for the Lady Rams softball team and the point guard for a top-notch age-group travel team off-season. So she got up and walked off the court under her own steam, cleared her head for several minutes, and insisted on going back into the game.
While the Lady Rams couldn't come back all the way against Haldane, they impressed with the crisp way they passed the ball around the horn with precision bounce passes, McKayla orchestrating the attack, Port Chester looking to set up plays, diving for loose balls, boxing out under the boards, fighting for every possession, looking like a well-coached team that gave Haldane all they could handle.
McKayla an All-Star
McKayla was named to the All-Tournament Team as Port Chester MVP alongside Haldane's McDaniel (whose consecutive long-range threes made the difference) and Haldane's high scoring MVP Kayla Ruggiero.
But 'tis the season for high school basketball tournaments and the Lady Rams will get another shot at a title in the upcoming Mamaroneck Tournament against multiple schools Thursday (12/14) at 5 p.m. and Saturday (12/16) at noon or 4 p.m., depending on whether they win the first game. They will then play Carmel away Monday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m. and Mt. Vernon Friday, Dec. 22 at 1:30 p.m. at home as their last game until after the holiday break. Port Chester's blend of youth and experience could surprise a lot of teams. Especially with the way they play for Uncle Danny.
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