Blue Devil Girls’ BB Has High Hopes

While there are never any guarantees in the sports world, the Huntington High School girls’ basketball team is starting its season this week in a very good place. The squad appears poised to challenge for a league crown and perhaps make a splash in the post-season.

The Blue Devils lost only one player off of last year’s team. The returning players have continued to mature after a long off-season on the courts. Huntington compiled a 13-6 mark in 2012/13 and hopes to be even more competitive this winter.

“We have a special group returning and I am very excited for the season to start,” said Mike Kaplan, Huntington’s head coach. “They have all put in a lot of time in the off-season to prepare for this upcoming season.” Many of the Blue Devils played on off-season basketball teams and some utilized the services of basketball personal trainers.

Huntington graduated Raynisha Witherspoon last June. While the teenager was a key contributor on both ends of the court, Kaplan believes he has a roster that is deep with talent. The top returning players include Heather Forster, Katie Nugent, Katie Reilly, Caitlin Knowles, Joellen Ceide, Emma Hughes, Lindsay Sullivan, Brooke Baade and Mackenzie Maloney.

The Blue Devils open the season with a non-league game against Half Hollow Hills East on December 10 at 5:45 p.m. in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium. It will be a tough contest. “They are the favorite to win League II,” said Kaplan, who will once again be assisted by Marissa Bergmann.

Huntington was knocked out of the Suffolk Class AA playoffs last February by Commack, 48-44. Kaplan hopes the team goes deeper into the post-season this winter. But, although the Blue Devils return almost the entire lineup from a team that won 13 games last season, they still have to prove their worth on the court.

Huntington is listed as No. 8 on Long Island in the Gold Star Dozen pre-season rankings. The Blue Devils have been picked to win Suffolk League IV. Kaplan doesn’t want to discuss the pre-season rankings, preferring instead to demand that his players work hard daily at practice and let the winning take care of itself.

Huntington will travel to Northport on November 30 for a multi-team scrimmage and then will host scrimmages against Walt Whitman (December 3) and Cold Spring Harbor (December 5). The Blue Devils will travel to East Islip for the league opener on December 13 at 4 p.m. The first league home game will come on December 17 against Half Hollow Hills West at 5:45 p.m.

Gold Star Dozen Pre-Season Rankings
 1. St. Mary’s
 2. St. Anthony’s
 3. Long Island Lutheran
 4. North Babylon
 5. Sachem East
 6. Massapequa
 7. Baldwin
 8. Huntington
 9. Harborfields
10. Copiague
11. North Shore
12. Wantagh