Dryden girls basketball aims for postseason return

For the last several years, the Dryden girls basketball team has yearned for postseason play but haven’t been able to punch its ticket to the big dance since 2018. This year’s squad is dead set on putting an end to that drought.

The Lions have gotten off to a solid start with a 4-3 record as of January 6, only one win shy of their total tally from last season. They have a new but recognizable face at the helm in John Pascarella, who is also the head baseball coach. Pascarella has spent the past six years as a volunteer assistant coach for the program, so his familiarity with the current roster has undoubtedly been beneficial.

“I think the big thing with teenagers in general, it’s learning them and adjusting to who they are with their personalities and what they can do as an athlete,” Pascarella said. “Being able to see that for years has made it a lot easier to be able to talk to them and drive success through their opportunities and drive the success through their positive well-being on the court and the IQ that they bring to the game.”

While the ‘power of positivity’ might be cliché, it truly does apply to the Lions. It’s something that not only Pascarella has helped cultivate, but also extends throughout the entire program, including the junior varsity team with first-year head coach Abby Wilkinson.

“What they bring to the table is their positive attributes and their characteristics, and they just keep pushing each other harder and harder to be great,” Pascarella said. “When you add the heart into what they’re doing on and off the court for each other, that positive well-being is such a big push for the players. Any time they’re down, they’re just uplifting to each other. When you talk about what you look for in a team, you’re talking defense or offense. I think their positiveness to drive each other for results is really one of the big keys to our success, and it will be going forward.”

In terms of the X’s and O’s, the Lions have put together a cohesive defensive unit that is allowing 44 points per game. On a hyperlocal level, in games against fellow Tompkins County teams—which make up all four of their wins so far—Dryden is only allowing 36 points per game.

“We get up and down the court pretty well defensively,” Pascarella said. “We play solid defense, and they constantly communicate on defense and adjust to the players that we’re playing against. You try to put the best people in the right positions all the time. Some days, some people just don’t have it that game, and you just got to adjust from there. Through their osmosis, they pick each other up, and defensively we’re pretty sound.”

On the offensive end, Giuliana Pascarella is leading the way for the Lions. The junior has had multiple performances of at least 20 points, and it’s no wonder why she was described by Coach Pascarella as the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the offense.

“She loves the game,” Pascarella said. “She loves her team. She wants to do as much as she can to contribute to her fellow teammates and to the Dryden program. It’s been really cool to see her transition this year to a player that’s looked up to on the team and in the program. She just wants to really be the best for her teammates and go out there and be successful to win games with them.”

Then there’s the senior duo of Maysie Davis and Abbey Smith who have displayed strong basketball IQ and have really embraced the positivity-driven identity of the team.

“They do a fantastic job just staying positive even when the moments are getting hard,” Pascarella said. “You got a 10-0 run against you, and they’re the first two to be like, ‘Hey, listen, it’s fine. We’ll figure it out.’ Hearing that—which is fantastic—and Giuliana and Claire [Fitzgerald] following it right up, it’s such a good feeling. It’s a heartfelt team that just brings positivity, and they want to be successful together.”

With the promising start they’ve had, they could very well be in the mix for an IAC North Large Division title. They’ll have to knock off a Whitney Point team that has topped the division for the last seven seasons in order to do so. But the main goals for the Lions are to get to a .500 record and make sectionals. Pascarella offered two big factors that will help catapult the Lions back in the postseason.

“One: play our game,” Pascarella said. “Play our speed of the game, and don’t play the speed of the other team’s game. And the other thing is we need to be disciplined within our sets. If we’re running an offensive set, we need to be disciplined in it. And when all else fails and everything breaks down, you just play basketball. If we just realize that and have fun with it, we’ll be very successful.”