Props to coach Don Hamlin and the PV girls

Props to Don Hamlin for the 2021-22 basketball season at Putnam Valley.

Yes, Hamlin retired at Briarcliff after a strong career and stepped into a Ferrari at Putnam Valley, a team with superstar junior Eva DeChent and a strong supporting cast.

But he was also sliding into a Catch 22. If he wins, all the credit goes to Kristi Dini, since she built the program and many of the girls play for her at NY Extreme.

If he loses, then it’s all his fault.

So Hamlin deserves props for guiding this team to the Class B Final Four. It was his hand on the wheel. He had to change the oil. Monitor and maintain the chemistry. Keep the wheels from falling off. (Which can happen with a talented team.)

My guess is that the definition of success for the 2021-22 PV team going into the season: anything less than a Gold Ball would’ve been a disappointment.

(Though if PV had lost to Hastings, it would not have been an upset.) (A loss to Irvington or Briarcliff would have been out of a Greek myth)

Any post-Section-One-playoffs victories would be gravy, so that means Coach Hamlin and the PV girls ate two big bowls of gravy; winning two Class B state tournament games and making it to Troy: the promised land of NY high school girls basketball.

One could argue Hamlin has had more talented teams (the Briarcliff team with three 1000-point scorers jumps to mind, with Maddie Plank, Alana Lombardi, and his daughter Kacey), but this PV team went the farthest.

In many ways, Hamlin was the perfect hire considering the situation. A veteran coach, used to coaching talented teams, steps in to coach a veteran talented team.

Let’s take a quick look at how the season unfolded.

PV started out playing a 1-3-1 halfcourt press early in the season. This was a defense that Hamlin brought with him from Briarcliff, and a deviation from the in-your-face man-to-man defense PV had played in years past. The 1-3-1 gave less experienced teams fits and led to many easy buckets. But against the top teams in Section One, the 1-3-1 was less effective. For instance, in a regular-season losses to Hastings and Lourdes, PV fell behind and switched out of the 1-3-1.

Eventually PV switched over to man-to-man as their standard defense. They certainly had the personnel to execute that. Although the team lacked height, they had tremendous grit and tenacity defensively. Images of sophomore 5’6” Nia Torres bodying up six-footers Paige Martin and Katie LeBuhn in the paint. All 5 PV starters were tough defenders, and also aggressive. One wonders if they did linebacker drills in practice, because this team ripped the ball out of opponents hands at a high frequency.

PV had a 6, sometimes 7-girl rotation. One might think that would be a huge liability, but they avoided foul trouble, for the most part.

The crazy thing is PV got taken to the brink by Bronxville in the Section One quarterfinals. That would’ve been a massive upset. One dad referred to the Broncos as “a bunch of lacrosse players” (Bronxville had 7 seniors go D1 lax). The Bronxville players were physically strong enough to match up with PV. And lacrosse players are not afraid of physicality. They clogged the paint, and it was a low scoring affair. And then Eva fouled out. Bronxville was down 3, with a couple minutes left. And no Eva. If the Broncos could have converted a few buckets down the stretch, we’d be having a whole different conversation. But PV prevailed.

For PV to win the section and beyond, they were going to need more than Eva. Eva was the class B player of the year. She’s always going to get you 17 points or more and a bunch of rebounds and assists and steals. That was money in the bank.

But that alone would not be enough. A strong team effort knocked out Hastings, 50-45. Then Nia Torres stepped up big in the Section One final vs Irvington. The final with Irvington was a scrappy affair and Torres’ second-half buckets were instrumental to PV moving on, 52-46.

In the subregional PV faced a very talented team out of Red Hook, with Marist commit Morgan Tompkins and at least one other six-footer. Red Hook was the one team that someone could make the case that PV was coming in as the underdog. PV jumped out to a big early lead, which was key. Red Hook battled back and it was a tight game in the 4th quarter. Eva was Eva as usual. But Amanda Orlando really stepped up. Driving into the teeth of the defense and hitting lay-ups amongst much taller defenders with their hands up.

In these close post-season games, you got to give some credits to the coach. The coach keeps the players focused, makes choices. Hamlin kept his squad executing down the stretch. In the stands, I couldn’t believe that Red Hook was not getting the ball to Tompkins down the stretch. Yes, PV was playing her tight. But your star player has to get touches. And I also was surprised Red Hook waited so long to foul PV in the final couple of minutes, to force them to force them to make free throws. This was a huge 54-49 victory for PV.

PV advanced to the regional final and beat Locust Valley 49-38 to reach the final four. Great accomplishment.

PV faced a gritty Waterloo squad. PV played zone, which was a deviation from their more typical man-to-man. PV’s zone forced Waterloo into a number of turnovers early on and PV capitalized some. But not enough. PV went into the half, down one 24-23. A bounce here, a bucket there, and PV might have had a ten-point lead. Eva seemed to be everywhere: buckets, blocks, steals, dimes.

Waterloo separated at the end of the 3rd. It went from a three-point Waterloo lead: 32-29, to a twelve-point lead. The momentum shifted. Waterloo won 61-39. That’s where the dream ended. I’m sure they wanted more, but excellent showing for everyone involved. It’s unfortunate that the 2019-20 PV squad didn’t get a chance to go up to Troy, because they would’ve been favorites. Ditto the 2020-21 squad. Now we will see what happens with the 2022-23 squad. They have graduated two starters, but they bring back three. And now they know what to expect in Troy. Will that experience help them? They have to be considered the favorites in Section One class B. I’m sure every team in the Section is saying: give us, Eva, and we will win the Section too. Might be some truth in that. But you still got to go out there and win the big games. And that’s what Don Hamlin and the 2021-22 Tigers did.