Syosset Girls Basketball is something other than kids' play.
The 21-3 North Shore team is the strength to consider this season after beating Brentwood 54-46 for their first AAA Long Island title in school.
Sisett will head to the first ever New York State Final Four this weekend, shortly after a very deep team, with three middle schoolers honing the skills of a more veteran athlete.
“They put what they expected and allowed their team to really shine,” coach Mike Ferreira told the Post before playing against Liverpool, a suburb of Syracuse in the Hudson Valley Community College Upstate in Troy on Saturday afternoon.
Building programs from the ground level and encouraging new recruits to thrive, especially when they join the game, is something senior leaders like Kate Nelmez really keep in mind.
She even boasted that the middle schoolers at the Scout team played an important role in preparing Brentwood.
“We've experienced an amazing role model [in the past]and I think we learned from them,” Nermes said, adding that many of the team's alumni were in LI Championship positions.
“We're trying to represent some of those qualities,” she added about making younger teammates feel important.
Family ball
Seventh-grade guard Julia Schneider spends her life with her sister Samantha, an 11th-grade guard who scored 26 key points in the LI Championship.
“I like to play with my sister, and this feels like it makes me better,” Julia said. Julia mimics the way the scout players mimic Liverpool's tactics this week, after seeing a film about opponents they've never faced.
Not only is her sister, but also the leader in coaching the entire team, Samantha is also fond of the special family moments that come.
“Who knew I was going to make it there? The fact that we can go together is incredible,” she said.
Revenge Tour
After the highs and lows in 2024, there have been a lot of changes for Syosset.
Yes, the team won the first ever Nassau County title, beating Juggernaut Baldwin 49-44, but lacking strong Walt Whitman in a 38-29 defeat in the LI Championship.
“After winning the Nassau Championship for the first time last year, I was happy to be there,” Ferreira said. “What we lost was a game.
This time there was a totally different attitude, especially as they topped it with rival PlainView's Bethpage 62-53, especially in the county title, and then they all “buy” them to finish the job.
The senior standout Nelmes is proud to see that showing true grit is the team's new mantra, especially after the end of last season's crush.
“Our team knows how much work we did every day, we don't take time off,” she said.
“Whether it’s films, weight rooms, practice, we make sure we’re always at work.
Preparation for the months that these winter athletes began in the summer brought emotional maturity to the team when it was most needed. I followed Brentwood towards the fourth quarter.
“We had that mindset we've been to before, but we know what it takes,” said Nermes, who played a big role in the comeback.
“Even when we fell, we knew we could win.”
Well, back in the driver's seat, this time there's no one in Sea Set who's happy.
A giant “Beat Liverpool” digital sign is being clad in during conditioning training in the team's weight room on Tuesday.
“We've been practicing seven days a week since February,” Samantha Schneider said.
“We're mentally prepared and don't be afraid of girls bigger than us or stronger than us. We know we can compete again and again. …This team really wants that.”
