02/16/10
The goal for the No. 1 ranked Onondaga Community College women’s basketball team was clear - improve on last year’s success. To say they have done so is a bit of an understatement.
OCC finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 29-7 overall record, claimed the NJCAA Region III Division III championship for the first time in school history, and finished fifth in the NJCAA Division III national tournament.
The Lazers’ most notable win of last year came when they upset Mohawk Valley Community in the regional round. The Hawks’ wings were clipped when OCC upset the touted favorite.
“It was an awesome feeling being able to know we knocked them off when they were 100 percent set on going.” sophomore Jenna Rossi said, “They had gone for six straight years. It was a feeling you can’t describe.”
Head coach Mike Wheeler agrees. “It was an omen,” he said. “They took us lightly.”
Yes, that’s all fine – but it’s also old news. Entering the 2009-10 season, the Lazers were hungrier than before. Nothing more would wet their palate more than a national championship.
“We know what to expect now,” Rossi said. “The returning players know what it is like.”
Competitive tests are part of the basketball curriculum. To be the best, teams have to play the best, so it came as no surprise that OCC’s annual trip to Florida was going to be a true testament to the team’s capabilities.
After a 3-0 sweep down south in the Broward College Holiday Classic, a plane ride back to snow-bitten Syracuse was all it took for Wheeler to realize this year’s team had something special. During that tournament, the Lazers beat Miami Dade College, 62-55, Broward College, 72-58 and University of Western Ontario in overtime, 83-79.
“Beating University of Western Ontario after back-to-back games, I thought, ‘Wow,’” Wheeler said.
Since then, the wins kept piling up until OCC had reached 26-0. During that time, the Lazers have looked like a community-college replica of powerhouse University of Connecticut, devouring and spitting teams out. OCC had one of its most dominant performances on Jan. 14, when they handed Corning Community College a 100-52 defeat.
With great success follows the pressure to perform on an elite level. Teams are salivating at its chance to knock off the top-ranked Lazers.
“The X gets bigger,” Wheeler said. “I’m trying to tell the girls to take one game at a time, enjoy the moment and enjoy what we are doing right now.”
Ranked No. 1 in scoring average (80.1 points per game) and defensive average (49.8 allowed) as of Feb. 8, OCC pulled far away from second-place Cayuga (16-9) and the rest of the Mid-State Athletic Conference.
Veteran leadership and experience has been one of the driving forces behind the team’s success. Also, OCC’s style of play has evolved into fast-paced, get-it-out there transition offense, unleashing a torrent of 3-pointers if let unguarded.
“They know the system inside and out,” Wheeler said. “It’s nice to have a group that knows me well.”
Wheeler credits the Lady Lazer’s stamina to the countless minutes of transition drills in practice. With the regular season coming closer to the end and tournament play right around the corner, Rossi noted how important it was to stay focused.
“Every team will be trying to come out and beat us,” she said. “They have nothing to lose. We have everything to gain.
OCC will host the Mid-State Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Saturday and Sunday as the top seed.
The entire roster: Imani Brown, Molly Byrne (Bishop Ludden), Brittany Cohen (Jamesville-DeWitt, Caryn Crary (Skaneateles), Jen Collis (Tully), Nicole Dwyer (Cicero-North Syracuse), Megan Maycumber (J-D), Jenna Rossi (Phoenix), Cara Scalisi (Liverpool), Christina Scalisi (Liverpool), Lauren Scalisi (Fabius-Pompey), Alecia Shaffer (East Syracuse-Minoa), Savannah Sicilio, Jessica Stagnitta (Liverpool) and Kayla Trail (Fulton).
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