Vikings girls third in Feller tournament

By Mike Zummo
Posted 12/8/21

The Corinne Feller Memorial Tournament has always meant a lot to the Valley Central girls’ basketball team.

One of her nieces – Madeline Feller – has already graduated from the …

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Vikings girls third in Feller tournament

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The Corinne Feller Memorial Tournament has always meant a lot to the Valley Central girls’ basketball team.

One of her nieces – Madeline Feller – has already graduated from the school and gone through the program, and another one of her nieces, freshman Jenna O’Connor played in her first Feller tournament last week.

However, the Vikings were unable to repeat as champions after losing Thursday’s opening round game to Middletown but came back to finish in third place with a 39-11 win over John S. Burke Catholic on Friday night.

Corrinne Feller was a four-year varsity basketball letter winner at Valley Central High school and was the team’s Most Valuable Player and co-captain during her senior year. She was also a member of the National Honor Society and an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association scholar-athlete during her senior year.

She died from ovarian cancer in 1999.

But you don’t have to be a member of the Feller Family Tree to appreciate the legacy she left behind.

“Corinne Feller was one of my teammate’s aunts,” said Riley Schmidt, who scored a game-high nine points.

“And so, it means a lot to me because I grew up with them. So, it means a lot to the whole team.”

Schmidt also led the Vikings with seven points on Thursday’s 37-21 loss to Middletown and was named to the all-tournament team.

“It’s an honor,” Schmidt said. “I’m very happy that I got it, and there’s so many other people that could have gotten it, but I’m glad it’s me.”

After losing Thursday, the Vikings got off to a fast start, scoring 10 straight points before the Eagles got on the board.

“They got off to a fantastic start,” Valley Central coach Bill Michella said. “They ran the offense well and shot the ball very well. Last night, the shots didn’t fall and tonight they fell. That’s part of basketball.”

The Vikings scored 24 of their 39 points in the first quarter. Schmidt scored 5 of her 9 in the first period and Mackenzie Delmonico and O’Connor each scored all seven of their points in the first quarter.

Burke’s Samantha Finlay, who was named to the all-tournament team broke the Vikings’ 10-0 run, hitting the back end of two free throws, but after Delmonico and Finlay traded baskets, the Vikings went on 12-0 run to finish the quarter with a 24-3 lead.

“We knew we had to come up with more intensity than yesterday and I said to the team just bring it back out like we did yesterday in the second half,” Schmidt said.

The Vikings were plagued by nerves in their first game of the season on Thursday, as the Middie Bears, who went on to win the tournament on Friday with a 35-33 win over the Marlboro Dukes, took a 14-2 lead after the first quarter.

“They were very nervous in the first half, and they came out in the second half, they played spectacular,” Michella said. “And we outscored them (16-12) in the second half because of our defense.”

Middletown seventh grader Ashley MacCalla was named tournament MVP and Alyze Skyers was named to the all-tournament team. Ella Leduc and Gabby Murphy were named to the all-tournament team for Marlboro.

MacCalla scored 15 points on Thursday and Alyze Skyers added 10.