The Cardinal Mooney girls basketball team is a force to be reckoned with this season. Their record includes a win against Canton Central Catholic with a score of 47-34. This season, the Lady Cards are sporting a new head coach: Dom Diorio. Diorio previously worked alongside former head coach, Jason Baker, as an assistant coach for four years. Diorio said, “This being my first year as the head coach, I want to continue to build this program and improve it every year, eventually turning this into one of the premiere programs in the area. We hope to see a lot of students/fans come and support us this season.” |
When sharing his excitement about the upcoming season, Diorio also discussed the team’s ambitions.
“Our goal is to get better everyday, play together as a team, and have fun,” Diorio said.
The team members have plans to develop their skills as the season progresses, and they become an even more unified team. Four senior girls are all serving as captains of the varsity team: Natalie Femia, Alyssa Rapp, Alaina Scavina, and Angelina Rotunno.
“Going forward I think our team is going to make a lot of progress,” Rotunno said. “Right now we are having trouble playing together, and I think once we start gaining more trust in each other and playing together, we will be a hard team to beat.”
In order to make this progress, Rotunno explained that the team is consistently practicing offense and running defensive drills where they have to communicate with each other. Femia instantly agreed that communication and trust are the most important areas for the team to currently set their focus.
“Our goal is to get better everyday, play together as a team, and have fun,” Diorio said.
The team members have plans to develop their skills as the season progresses, and they become an even more unified team. Four senior girls are all serving as captains of the varsity team: Natalie Femia, Alyssa Rapp, Alaina Scavina, and Angelina Rotunno.
“Going forward I think our team is going to make a lot of progress,” Rotunno said. “Right now we are having trouble playing together, and I think once we start gaining more trust in each other and playing together, we will be a hard team to beat.”
In order to make this progress, Rotunno explained that the team is consistently practicing offense and running defensive drills where they have to communicate with each other. Femia instantly agreed that communication and trust are the most important areas for the team to currently set their focus.
“I think as of recently we need to play a little smarter as a team and develop trust,” Femia said. “We had a good talk about it in practice, and we need to take smarter passes and smarter shots and finish when we have to. As a goal for the season, we should try to win games not just to win, but to execute teamwork and to play better.” The girls junior varsity and freshman teams are also hard at work. Freshman Talecia Huff shared information about her personal experience as a new player. “It’s a wonderful experience,” Huff said. “They make me feel good about being a little inexperienced. They make it joyful and hard, with all the discipline and having to learn how to play with each other.” As the girls work hard to accomplish their goals, Diorio creates the vision of a bright future. Diorio said, “We have a solid group returning from last year and a good number of new players with a lot of them being freshmen, so the future looks bright for our program.” |