Witches two wins from title
Greenwich draws inspiration from injured teammate Rojas
GREENWICH — Twenty-six games played turned into 26 victories. The average margin of victory for the Greenwich girls’ basketball team is just a tick shy of 40 points per game.
The Witches captured the Section II Class CC championship, avenged a 2022 Class C title loss against Duanesburg by beating the Eagles in the CC/C playoff and posted regional wins against Northeastern Clinton and Canton to advance to the state final four at Hudson Valley Community College.
Greenwich’s seventh sectional title and first state playoff appearance since 1994, however, has not gone completely smoothly. Adrianna Rojas, a standout junior guard who recently surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for her career, suffered a season-ending knee injury after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament at the start of sectional play. Subtracting a player of Rojas’ ability as both a player and leader is certainly significant, but the Witches have responded by producing some superlative basketball during their playoff run.
“I have been very pleased. They easily could have hung their heads and been, ‘Oh geez, what are we going to do now?’ They obviously haven’t,” Greenwich coach Jason Slater said. “They have a refuse-to-lose attitude. They know no one was going to feel sorry for us just because she went down. Everybody else has to step up and who is ready to step up and play a bigger role.”
“Her out is hard not to have, but we all need to step up and play our roles,” Greenwich freshman guard Brooke Kuzmich said. “I think it helps us (knowing we are) playing for her. She is a big factor to what we do scoring and rebounding, so everybody realized that we all had to step up and execute.”
“I am really proud of us. We’ve had certain players step up and make more contributions than in the past when ‘Nana’ was there,” Norah Niesz said. “I am excited we have made it this far and we hope to continue that.”
Greenwich (26-0), ranked No. 3 in the state, looks to complete its quest of capturing the program’s first state title Saturday when the Witches take on Section IX champion Millbrook (21-3), the 2022 state champion, at HVCC. Game time is 2:15 p.m.
Senior forward Reegan Mullen, who scored 16 points in a 60-32 triumph over Canton, has replaced Rojas in the starting lineup, in which she has joined Niesz (16.7 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game and 4.0 assists per game), Kuzmich (16.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.0 apg), senior guard Cate Abate (5.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and sophomore guard Grace Autiello (8.2 ppg).
“Growing up with the other seniors on the team, we have all taken up a leadership role in different ways,” Niesz said. “I think we know each other so well, like when someone needs a break and or when someone needs to pick things up.”
Slater says having a player like Niesz there to keep things together has been vital to the Witches’ drive toward a state title.
“Norah is as calm, cool and collected as they get,” Slater said. “She is in the gym year round and this is her thing. She wasn’t going to let (Rojas’ injury) be an excuse for not getting past Duanesburg. She is the glue that holds things together. The girls look to her. I look to her to get us through some of those tougher moments.”
Kuzmich, who earned Section II Class CC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors and has averaged 20 points per game over her past four games, has proven to be clutch. She poured in a game-high 26 points with five 3-pointers in the state quarterfinal win against Canton.
“Brooke has been playing great all year, even last year,” Niesz said. “She has really taken it to the next level since ‘Nana’ went down. She is someone we can all count on, which is great.”
“You would never know Brooke is a freshman,” Slater said. “She knows that the further we go into the postseason, the more we will rely on her. She steps up her game when the going gets tough. Her basketball maturity and court savvy is just as good as a senior.”
Some of the players taking the court Saturday helped the school’s softball team capture a state title last spring and the
girls’ soccer team reach the Section II Class CC final.
“This has been one of our biggest goals since we were young,” Niesz said.
“Basketball isn’t all of their top priorities (athletically), but they all want to win,” Slater said. “Brooke, Norah or anyone, they don’t care who scores as long as we win. Some teams, there are kids who care about their points and stats. Not this group. They care about each other, they care when they are on the court or on the bench. The ones on the bench are cheering. They are in it for each other.”