White and super sophs handling tough slate

In his first year as the varsity coach at Molloy last year, John McGlynn saw what scheduling competitive games in December did for rivals Christ the King and Mary Louis.
Therefore, instead of lining up non-league cupcakes for his sophomore-laden club, McGlynn scheduled national powers Regis Jesuit (Colorado) and LaSalle (Rhode Island) in addition to notable local programs St. Michael Academy (Bronx), Sachem East (Long Island), Manhattan Center and Notre Dame Academy (Staten Island).
“If you are going to get better, you have to play tougher competition,” he said. “Before we hit the league season, we’ll be battle tested.”
Five games in, his young Stanners are not buckling under the pressure. Actually, they are impressively winning.
With four victories in five contests, Molloy’s four underclassmen - Kelly Robinson, Shannon LaVelle, Marielle Duryea and Kelly Guerriero - have shown promise.
It has obviously helped that senior wing Kerri White is there to steady the ship. Monday, Molloy held off relentless Sachem East, 60-52, behind 16 points from White, a Manhattan recruit.
Robinson added eight, Duryea, LaVelle and Nicole Marciniak had seven apiece and Guerriero added four, most notably the biggest two, a driving reverse lay-up in the final minutes that stretched a three-point lead to five.
However, White controlled the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points, including 7-of-8 at the free throw line, in the final six minutes and grabbing several important rebounds.
“She’s a great leader,” Guerriero said. “We definitely look to her.”
With young talent also comes jitters and inexperience. The four 10th-graders have shown flashes, but also have yet to realize the consistency needed on each end of the court from the opening tip to final whistle.
Often, whenever the Stanners have built a lead, they relax - one of the main reasons Molloy was unable to pull away from Sachem East and has blown leads in each of their four wins.
“They have to develop discipline and start focusing on what the team is doing, not individual stuff,” McGlynn said. “They don’t maintain the same intensity once they get a lead. They start getting sloppy and forget what got us the lead.”
“It’s just effort,” Guerriero admitted. “Sometimes we slack off.”
At that point, White steps to the forefront.
“It’s not up to me to do everything,” she said, “but it’s up to me to control the game. It can get frustrating for them when everything isn’t going right because they are new and young.”