GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland girls’ basketball team has made some changes this pre-season as it prepares to make another run at the Class AA championship.

The Lady Dutch lost five seniors from a team that played in the sectional championship game last year. One of them was Suburban Council all-star Jessica Edmonds who is playing at Siena College.
"We have two returning starters," said Guilderland Coach Frank Cacckello. "We lost five seniors, but I think that we’ll be a pretty good offensive team. We have some kids that can really put the ball in the basket."

Cacckello said he and Assistant Coach Jim Mazzone are implementing a new offense. Last year, Edmonds was the main focus of the offense, but this winter the Dutch will use a guard-oriented offense.
"A lot of our offense went through Jess Edmonds," Cacckello said. "This pre-season we’ve worked more on offense than defense, which we’ve not done before. They have picked it up pretty well."

The two returning starters are junior Kristin Pezze and senior Jessica Tice. Both are guards though Tice is 6 feet, 1 inch tall.
"Tice will be difficult to guard," Cacckello said. "With her, we have a weapon that can play inside and out. We can play in a swing position and she can help us out. She will make it difficult for teams to put a four [forward] on her."

Tice has been on the varsity for three years as has Pezze.
"Pezze can be in the top 10 in scoring in all of Section II," Cacckello said. "That is how good she is. She’ll also play a leadership role and she has a lot of versatility. She can play one of three positions for us."

Also returning is senior Rachel Rabbin who played some at the point-guard position last year. Jen Keefe is the only other senior on the team. She played some at forward last year and will contribute more this year.

Juniors Mary Kate O’Connell and Nicole Branchini also return. Both saw playing time last season and O’Connell will take over Edmonds’s position at center.
"Kristin is in her third year; she was up as a freshman," Cacckello said. "Rachel was on varsity and was a back-up guard. Tice is also in her third year on the varsity. Mary Kate did a great job backing up Edmonds. Niki Branchini is in her second season as is Jen Keefe. They are exceptional kids."

Newcomers

Newcomers to the team are juniors Tricia Loux, Megan Carroll, Corey Armstrong, Melanie Ostrowski, and sophomore Danielle Burns.
"With the newcomers, the biggest thing, and this is my experience," Cacckello said, "is that they need to do the little things. You don’t want to put too much pressure on them early. They can be a screener, and rebound, and defend. If the kids can fill those roles, great."

The Lady Dutch will face high expectations again this year. The Guilderland program has been one of the top in the Suburban Council for the past 10 years.
"Expectations come with being in the program," Cacckello said. "We’ve had tremendous success in the past decade. Any time you run a program, the one thing you fight for is tradition. It’s the one thing we have every time we step on the floor. You fight for the people that took the floor before you."

The Lady Dutch will also be in the large-school division of the Suburban Council. Guilderland joins Shenendehowa, Shaker, and Saratoga in the Blue Division.

The long season begins for the Lady Dutch in the Bethlehem Tournament on Dec. 2 and 3.
"It’s great," Cacckello said. "It’s tentatively scheduled to be played in the Washington Avenue Armory. I’m excited about that."

But the season, if the Dutch are successful, can run until late March and there are a lot of trials and tribulations during the course of the season.
"The kids have definitely put in the work," Cacckello said. "We put in an offense that will make the team better. We’re always looking to make adjustments. It’s a long season with a lot of peaks and valleys."

Especially in the tough Suburban Council.
"It’s always a tough league," Cacckello said. "The teams are top heavy. I think the ultimate goal will be to get back to Hudson Valley," he said of the site of the sectional finals. "Do we have the kids to do that" Yes. Are we a work in progress" Yes. We have to work, we are not going to win games on talent alone."