Dryden’s Amy Gardner receives multiple awards

It has been an exceptional week for Dryden High School alum Amy Gardner. She and the nationally 22nd-ranked St. John Fisher women’s basketball team won their Empire 8 Conference tournament, automatically qualifying the Cardinals for the national tournament. In the process, Gardner has received a slew of awards.

Gardner, a senior at St. John Fisher, was recently named the E8 Defensive Player of the Year, the E8 Tournament MVP, the E8 Player of the Week and the E8 Torchbearer Award recipient for having the highest GPA of all tournament participants. What means the most to Gardner, though, is having a chance to play more games before she graduates.

“There’s no feeling quite like it,” Gardner said. “It’s exactly where we want to be. We’ve set this goal since the beginning of our season, and I’m so happy that the weekend went the way it did. Going forward, it’s going to be so much fun. I’m really happy that we have another week of basketball to get ready for it.”

Gardner played a big role for the team this year as its defensive leader. She accumulated 39 steals in 26 games played to set the tone, helping the Cardinals achieve a 25-2 record. Gardner talked about the pride she has in her defense.

“Since my sophomore year, I’ve had the challenge of being basically matched up with the other team’s best players,” Gardner said. “Being recognized for that challenge and everything is really great. I have to thank my team for recognizing me every single time too, so it’s not like I haven’t been recognized all season after each game. There’s always been people that are telling me how great of a job I’ve done, so it is really nice.”

She was able to have a very successful senior campaign while maintaining a 3.97 GPA in her education and mathematics double major, which is the highest mark of all players in the six-team Empire 8 Tournament. She talked about winning the Torchbearer Award and the effort she puts into her education.

“School has always been super important to me,” Gardner said. “But honestly, being on the team has probably made my grades better. It teaches me a ton of time management, and academics as a whole for our team are very important. There are study halls, and we’re always in the library together. If you want to go to the library, there’s probably a teammate or two or three there, so it’s not something that we don’t focus on.”

Going back to her days at Dryden High School, Gardner made a similar impact on the court. She was a two-time team MVP and led the team in points, steals and assists in both of those seasons. Since then, she has improved to an even more impactful player.

“I think that my confidence has grown since high school,” Gardner said. “Just being around my teammates here at Fisher has just built me up. There are always people in the gym and just opportunities to get into the gym other than practice. It just really has built my confidence. Also, just having other people around me who are just very knowledgeable about the sport too has been great. So, going into practice each day, there is so much effort and hard work and just pushing each other to be better.”

A few of those teammates are former high school opponents of hers. Katie and Kelly Moravec are first-year twins who dominated Section IV together as members of the Newfield basketball team, and freshman Sidney Tomasso was a two-time IAC MVP for the Waverly Wolverines. Gardner discussed welcoming the familiar faces to the team.

“It’s great,” she said. “Even though they are younger than me, I remember playing them back when I was a senior, so I knew them. I knew their names and I knew a little bit about how they played. So, it’s been great having them on the team.”

While the journey is just beginning for those three players, Gardner’s time playing basketball at St. John Fisher is nearing an end. A final run in the NCAA Tournament would be very meaningful to her.

“In my sophomore year, we went to the tournament, and I thought we were kind of young,” Gardner said. “So, since we are now a bit older [and] we have girls that have gone to the tournament, I think we will be more prepared. And just winning one game in the tournament would mean the world to me going out in my final year. So, I’m just going to leave it all on the court.”

Gardner and the Cardinals will travel to Amherst College in Massachusetts on March 4 to face Rhode Island College. A win would not only extend her playing days but would be a crowning achievement in an excellent college basketball career.

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