New lady Dane????

[Patch]

Here's an article from LI Newsday does anyone know more about this recruit???

 

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST 57, ST. DOMINIC 53

Defense all the difference

SJB's Johnathan and SD's O'Brien agree 'D' was tough

BY JASON MOLINET

Newsday Staff Writer

 

February 10, 2007

 

It would have been easy for St. John the Baptist to give up. This young cast was hardly the same group that won three straight Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA girls basketball titles. Those playmakers took their games to college.

 

With coach Ted Oberg missing and the team's biggest presence -- 6-4 sophomore Christine Huber -- nursing a severely sprained left ankle, the Cougars were hardly at full strength Friday. What a day to face a St. Dominic team hungry to regain its place among the elite.

 

Yet the Cougars shook off the effects of a two-game losing streak, their missing coach and an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit and rallied for a 57-53 road win in a battle for first place.

 

The Cougars (18-4, 13-1), whose 32-game league winning streak was snapped Tuesday against Sacred Heart, all but locked up the league title with two games left.

 

"We clamped down on defense," acting Cougars coach Celeste Johnathan said. "It was just their will."

 

Oberg, who was forced to miss the game after being ejected against Sacred Heart, would have been proud. Defense carried the day. Nothing illustrated the point better than junior Jasmine Pitts' breakaway basket with 3:25 left.

 

Albany-bound guard Janea Aiken dribbled to midcourt and pulled up to assess the situation. But before the St. Dominic star could react, Pitts popped the ball free and raced ahead for the layup to put the finishing touches on a 9-0 spurt that gave the Cougars a 48-47 lead.

 

"It starts out on defense," said St. John the Baptist junior guard Dani Iervolino, who had 18 points. "You can't score until you get the ball back. And we had to stop Aiken."

 

Aiken, who was honored before the game as a 1,000-point scorer, proved unstoppable at times. She poured in a game-best 27 points and made four three-pointers. But she managed just a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter and fouled out with 17 seconds left.

 

You could see why St. Dominic (17-5, 12-2) and coach Michele O'Brien sensed a missed opportunity.

 

"Their defense was the difference," O'Brien said. "They played hard and defended so well. We fell asleep a lot."

 

Huber, a transfer from North Babylon, sank a baby hook shot with 1:32 left to put the Cougars ahead for good at 52-51. The game was far from over, but St. Dominic misfired on its next three field-goal attempts.

 

After Rashedah Henriques scored for St. Dominic with 18.3 seconds left to make it a 56-53 game, Huber went to the line to put the contest out of reach. She sank one of two free throws and finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

 

"I was a little nervous playing," Huber said. "You don't want to get hurt again. But I felt I owed it to my team. Watching us lose the last week was horrible."

 

Tragedy averted.

[GreatDanes06]

Some more info

 

 

Little Newsday thing: http://www.newsday.com/sports/highschool/n...ports-headlines

 

She is 5'7'', but some say she 5'9'' and considered one of the Top 5 Senior players/college prospects for LI Girls Basketball. Plays SG more then PG. Plays for St. Dominic, which is one of the top private girls basketball programs on LI and top small school programs on LI.

 

She is avg 21.7 ppg this year and scored a season high 45 pts at the start of the season.

 

From topix.net

St. Dominic point guard Janea Aiken, who averaged 23 points a year ago, signed with Albany.

 

'I wanted to get her signed at a realistic place where she'll play a lot,' St. Dominic coach Michele O'Brien said. 'She's very athletic and sees the floor well and will have started three years for me.'

[purplehaze]

nice to see a recruit from the State of New York!