New Place, Same Results

                The Angels of The Rising Sky were back on their winning ways this past season; entering the Knights Winter League at Marist High School in Bayonne NJ. Once again the girls started in a familiar 0-2 hole like their Hoop Heaven Fall Season, but that didn’t strike any fear in them. The last time they began this way Capt. Kaitlynn Martinez hit a free throw in sudden death, after triple overtime to win the Championship, wrapping up that AAU season winning seven of their last eight down the stretch, including their playoff game by double digits. “Kait is a tremendous leader. She picks up everyone’s slack. If our scorers are off one day she scores, if we need boards one day she stays by the basket, if we need defense, we put her on their best big. She’s universal,” Coach Kreie says of his captain.

            December did not go as planned, but rather than hanging their heads on their 0-2 start, they went through game film, learned from their mistakes and headed right back into practice ready to work. January hit and both the new and old Angels began to spread their wings together. With their new look thanks to jerseys bought by Enterprise Bank and generous donations from the Town Pub of Bloomfield, Bloomfield’s Best Bagels & Deli and The Pitt BBQ, the Angels headed into the new year ready to ball. January’s 4-1 record was headed by a triple double from the new spark Bianca Fede, resident of Montclair, who became a quick hit to the team from day one. “Bianca,” Coach Jimmy says smiling searching for words, “Bianca is special. She is a very, very free spirit. Emotional. Quick witted. Smart. Excellent grades. A tremendous basketball player, and more importantly an amazing young girl. She’s the full package.”

            February’s 4-0 record was sparked by the return of starting Center Christina DeLeon, who had missed a month and a half due to a knee injury, and of course the smart, quick thinking plays of Capt. Camrynn Referente. Other major contributions were the valuable minutes played by returning Angels Adiya Ali, Mori Cunas, and new Angels Natalie Gonzalez and Sachi Cepeda. “We have all of our pieces clicking at the same time. Tina was a tough loss. It’s hard losing your power center but she’s back now. Camrynn is and has been playing smart, sound basketball all season long, Adiya is always calm and collected, Mori is taking full advantage of her minutes and the new Angels, Natalie and Sachi, are beginning to come around as well. It’s a good feeling heading into the Championship,” says Coach Kreie after a double digit win to end the regular season.

            March hit. The Angels finished the season in second place and claimed one of the two spots in the title game against the host team, which happened to be one of the two teams that had beaten them to start the season. Jariah Patterson quickly started her Championship MVP performance with a couple shots in the first minutes of the game on drives to the basket, which she had been doing all season, finishing as the leading scorer of the Angels. “Jariah is our scoring assassin. Simple as that. She goes right and left, she can drive, she can pull up, she gets and 1’s, shoots it from down town, put backs, you can pick anywhere on the court and she’ll pull the trigger. She also understands her importance as a decoy and keeps the other team’s best defender isolated while we run plays for the others. Basketball runs in her blood. Her brother, Jameel, was a 1,000 point scorer in high school, it’s clearly visible where she gets her instincts from,” Coach Kreie states.

            Minutes into the game the girls quickly jumped out to an 11-2 lead and this time never looked back. Jordan Hill, as she did all season long, completely took over the boards as well as made crucial free throws to keep all comeback attempts at bay. “Jordan is really, really good when she truly focuses. When she is on her A game most teams settle for jump shots rather than driving against her because of her presence and length, in turn that gets her rebounding stats up while getting our win column to where it is. When she gets mad you can feel the crowd waiting to see what will happen next,” Coach Kreie speaks about his 6th Wo-Man.

            Of course to anchor it all since the beginning is the rough, aggressive, smash mouth defense of Capt. Samantha Columna. Her stellar defense has recently begun to surge offense to everyone whether through steals or blocked shots. “Samantha’s defense is a major catalyst to our fast break offense. She creates turnovers which develop into points or assists for her. She has also caught fire shooting the ball lately making her a matchup nightmare. With her on their best ball handler, Bianca and Cam’s quick hands, Kait and Jariah taking off on the wings and Jordan, Tina and Adiya cleaning up anything left we have some real chances to turn a lot of heads. Their parents and I are proud of all of them,” Coach Jimmy Kreie said after the title game.

            Since October 1st 2013 the Angels have been limited to an hour and a half a week to practice on Friday nights because of a lack of gym space, but not even that has slowed their performance down. They are now 17-1 against teams their age level with two different titles since the limitation of practice. “A lot of people hear and see that the girls are winning on the court, but the real winning is being done in the classroom. The Angels are focused. They understand what they are being taught and they help each other. They trust each other. I wish people could be there with us on report card day like they are for our Championships. That’s the unseen stat that we make a priority” Coach Kreie informs. “The girls are going after their goals whether it’s a job, a college or an orange circle hanging ten feet in the air.”

            Due to the warm weather approaching we have been able to get outside a few times and have begun to expand. Brand new Angels for this upcoming season, thus far, will be Bloomfield residents Azatah Lawrence, Kendra Lawrence, Siarrah Rodriguez and Dajae Stokes, and Belleville resident Jazailis Gual. Also on the agenda will be a new section for girls in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade entitled the Halos, which has already begun. Returning soon are the Stars (7th & 8th grade boys) with returning Captain; Kevin Mitchell at the helm, and other new branches rising are the Super Novas (9th & 10th grade boys), Guardians (9th & 10th grade girls) and a 5th and 6th grade boys team not yet named.

            Already helping this spring season with donations are Levandoski Funeral Home, O’Boyle Funeral Home, Investor’s Bank, Studio 1 Hair Design and Bloomfield Health & Beauty. “I think the people within this community are amazing. The small, local businesses, the individual people, the parents all want to help these kids. They understand that these children will lead us to a better future and they have no problem investing in our youth. It’s a blessing that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”

            The Rising Sky is open to everyone wishing to participate. It does however have requirements that must be met and then maintained that we now refer to as our Holy Grail. 1) Good grades. It is the founding principle of a student athlete. 2) Good behavior. Trouble is not acceptable. 3) Expect Greatness because Greatness is expected from you. You are invited to become an amazing you. Perfection of your unique self is what we strive for. This is not a daycare. The kids battle to be on the game day roster weekly. Life is taught through basketball, especially the competitiveness aspect. With any questions about what we are about or information on how to join please feel free to contact James Sky at JamesSky@TheRisingSky.com. We are officially #OnTheRise.

CEO/Owner/Founder

- James Sky