Rams and Lady Rams hoop teams blow hot and cold in winter season-opening games in Rye Neck Tourney
December 11, 2024 at 11:19 p.m.
Just a few basketball games do not a season make or indicate whether a team is heading in the right direction.
But the Rams and Lady Rams crammed a season's worth of drama into their opening two winter season games in the Rye Neck Tournament. And in splitting that deuce apiece, they blew hot and cold while making it into the tourney's consolation round.
Along the way, they introduced a few new shooting stars—including two with links to Port Chester's storied, gloried athletic past.
Walquidi Valerio Sosa hit the Rams’ most dramatic shot—a three-pointer with four seconds left to play to help the Rams beat Keio 42-40 in the consolation round last Saturday (12/7). And Chris Hinz made the All-Tournament Team for his all-around play even though the Rams lost their opening round game to Riverside 54-43 last Thursday (12/5).
The familiar names
If those names sound familiar, Walquidi was one of the stars of the Rams soccer team. And Hinz, who also played football, is the kid brother of Danny Hinz, the former Rams All-Section football quarterback and All-League baseball player as a pitcher/outfielder now starring as a national science honors student at the University of Virginia.
Danny Davis's Lady Rams also had a breakout star in their opening game 53-43 win over Hamilton with Sophia Faraci leading the way with 21 points. Faraci is better known as one of the longtime standouts in the Port Chester Youth Baseball League and was also a standout on the New York Wonders 14U team that finished third in a national Cal Ripken Experience Tournament in the Elizabethtown Sports Park in Elizabethtown, Penn. in July. Faraci led the Wonders with a .333 batting average, a fielding percentage of .917 as a third baseman and even wound up pitching two and two-thirds innings. That's no small feat because the tourney drew more than 500 of the best female age group players in the country competing in various age brackets.
Pleasant surprises
So her high-scoring varsity hoops debut was a pleasant surprise. The Lady Rams’ 43-26 loss to Rye Neck in the consolation round was less pleasant although Port Chester's Big, Elise Thomas, more than held her own by scoring nine points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Sophia Faraci was the Lady Rams’ star in their opening game 53-43 win over Hamilton last Thursday (12/5) in which she scored 21 points.By Joseph DeCarlo
But perhaps most pleasant of all was the way the Lady Rams played in their home opener Monday (12/9) when they upset Carmel 30-25 with Faraci leading the scorers with 11, Thomas pulling down 12 rebounds while scoring six points, Aliyah Salmon getting 10 rebounds and Karah Provenzano coming up with a defensive gem with eight steals and eight rebounds despite being slowed by a sprained ankle.
If Karah Pro's last name sounds familiar, her big sister Jenna was a Lady Ram standout in hoops and softball who is now an academic star at the University of Rhode Island.
Solid roster strength
Davis also got strong play from a revolving door of hustling players in Isabella Lopez, Melissa Gagnon, Julia Wolff and Gianna Rende, the Lady Rams’ All-Section and All-League soccer standout.
Greg Cole's Rams also have a solid lineup revolving around seniors Angel Mata, Carmelo Thompson, Josel Sigua, Shawn Cheriyan and Ranbir Singh, juniors Jeremy Noel and Andrew Abraham and sophomores Justin Tenezaca and Chris Martin, one of the most promising running backs on the Rams football team.
Whether all those names and more will add up to the Rams hoops teams heading in the right or wrong direction remains to be seen. And you won't need a compass or GPS to see what happens next because both teams will be playing at home Saturday (12/14) in a doubleheader. It will be ladies first with the Lady Rams playing Haldane at 4 p.m. while the Rams tackle Gorton at 6 p.m. And the results will have a bearing on what lies ahead.
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