This winter’s eighth grade girls’ basketball team at J. Taylor Finley Middle School is stocked with talented, including several seventh graders who have been given a promotion.
Coached by Timothy Madden, the Falcons will be showcasing some very skilled players. Finley will play 10 games, including home and away games contests against Lindenhurst, West Hollow, Babylon, Candlewood and Deer Park.
The Finley roster includes seventh graders Abagail Baade, Laurel Bonn, Ava Brandine, Gianna Forte, Margaret Morrisroe, Emma O’Brien and Asyria Rios and eighth graders Ashley Genoa, Caroline Gorecki, Mackenzie McManus, Gianna Petrone, Grace Stolfa Tennia Strickland and April Swanson.
The Falcons have been practicing daily, working on their skills and learning a set of plays. Huntington varsity head coach Michael Kaplan recently had an opportunity to stop by Finley while the team was practicing and he liked what he saw. “This is a very hardworking group of young ladies,” he said. “There is obvious talent on the court.”
Madden has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 2002. A graduate of Hauppauge High School, he obtained an undergraduate degree at SUNY Cortland and a master’s degree at Stony Brook University. He has coached football, basketball, baseball, track, lacrosse and softball at various levels.
Players on the team are having a ball working with each other and Madden. The season runs until late March.