Nothing But Net

Newtown more than doubled their win total in one season, developing into one of the borough’s premier public school teams in one calendar year. With a junior-heavy roster, that performance would only set up the ensuing season no matter the result.
Yet at the conclusion last March, in the quarterfinal round of the PSAL Class B playoffs, when they lost to William Bryant, a division rival the Pioneers had beaten by a combined 25 points in the regular season, it left some players in tears and others inconsolable.
“It was depressing,” Newtown Coach John Sarrantonio said after the Pioneers whacked Flushing, 60-26, Friday afternoon. “We were looking forward to practice the next day.”
The team’s star wing Natasha Pierre-Louis doesn’t like talking about it. The team as a whole remembers but avoids the subject, too. Even so, it may be as much a reason as any for their dominating season, one they have lost just once, and remain undefeated in league play.
“It motivated us because we want to take it all,” Pierre-Louis said. “We’re playing harder now to make up for the loss.”
Now those juniors are seniors, and dominating - in 13 league games the Pioneers (17-1, 13-0 Queens A-I) have yet to be tested, their 55-40 win over John Bowne the closest margin of victory - despite a move up to the newly-formed Queens A-I, comprised of ‘B’ teams that moved up and ‘A’ teams that aren’t a part of the new super division, Queens AA.
The sharp-shooting Pierre-Louis remains the Pioneers’ focal point, averaging a double double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. However, others have stepped up. Talaya Melton, Newtown’s defensive stopper - “the best defensive player I’ve seen and I’ve coached boys my whole life,” Sarrantonio said - who leads their trapping and pressing style has become a viable second option, point guard Amaryli Ortiz has gained consistency, while senior Angela Lam has vastly improved her perimeter shooting.
“We have a lot of options besides Natasha,” Sarrantonio said.
To the coach, this is a special team. When he arrived four years ago, he inherited Pierre-Louis and Co., just freshmen at the time. They reached the postseason the last two years, winning their division title a season ago. But even with all that success, March is where this group will be ultimately judged.
“We’ve grown a lot together,” Pierre-Louis said, “so it would be nice to finish on a high note, to get a banner at Newtown.”
“We’re like a family,” Melton added. “We’ve been through a lot. We expect nothing but the best. Our motto is to take it one game at a time, but in the back of everybody’s head is the championship.”