Rutland Herald Winter Sports Guide 2017-2018
West Rutland High School
Home of the Golden
WEST RUTLAND
GIRLS BASKETBALL
3 Kiana Grabowski
4 Shelby Grabowski
10 Jenee McGee
11 Kiera Pipeling
12 Deanna Kneyon
14 Kasey Serrani
22 Samantha Callahan
23 Elizabeth Bailey
24 Denise Keyes
Julie Cressy
Head Coach Carl Serrani
Assistant Coach Matt Serrani
WEST RUTLAND
BOYS BASKETBALL
3 Zachary Farnham
5 Ryan Smith
10 Tyler Serrani
14 Garrett Waite
21 Kyle Laughlin
22 Matthew Harte
Horde
32 Timothy Blanchard
33 Liam Beaulieu
34 Brendan Forrest
35 Michael Barrett
42 Ryley Dow
Head Coach Jordan Tolar
Assistant Coach Mike Davis
Girls Basketball Preview Continued
different look.
“She won’t have the ball in her hands
as much, ” coach Hayes said. “And we
are not just going to pound it into
Leanna all the time. We want to get a
lot more shots up. ”
Hayes does have varsity coaching
experience at the school, directing the
baseball program for several years.
FUN FACT: Deb Stiles, a 1995
Poultney graduate and Sarah Gilmore,
a 1998 Poultney graduate, were both
1,000-point scorers for the Blue Devils
and both went on to play for Franklin
Pierce.
PROCTOR
The Phantoms return five play-
ers, including three starters, giving
coach Ryan Csizmesia plenty to build
around.
An exciting part of the preseason
has been the improvement of the
returning players, most notably senior
Isabel Valerio.
“She played in 14 AAU tournaments
over the summer, ” Csizmesia said.
“She was a great player last year and is
even better this year. She has taken on
a leadership role. ”
He has also noticed a big leap in the
confidence of returning starters Allie
Almond and Maddie Flanders, who
were getting acclimated to the varsity
level last year as freshmen.
Other returning players are Sarah
Pecor, who gives the Phantoms some
size and rebounding, and Rachel
Stuhlmueller, who was a varsity
member as an eighth-grader and has
“improved a lot” after playing AAU
ball with the Mill River players over
the summer, according to Csizmesia.
Freshmen Maddie Lee and
eighth-grader Sydney Wood are also
expected to contribute.
The Phantoms look to improved on
last year’s 11-11 mark that included a
first-round playoff win over Danville.
They were ousted by Craftsbury in the
next game despite holding a 25-11 lead
over the Chargers before running into
foul trouble.
Csizmesia is looking forward to his
second season.
“We should be able to press and run
more. This team fits my style of coach-
ing, ” he said.
“It will take the young players some
time to get adapted to the varsity
game. ”
FUN FACT: Csizmesia scored 1,393
points at Arlington from 2000-2003. about the potential of this year’s
edition of Raider basketball. There is
experience and more quickness.
“I’d like to run a little more, ” Bello-
mo said.
The experience comes in the form of
Kennedy Birdsey, Elise Magro, Ashley
Cassarino, Katherine Slawinsky, Leah
Charron and Sophie Tanen. Most have
logged considerable varsity minutes.
One newcomer who could make an
impact is freshman Kendra Sabotka.
You can expect the Raiders to
defend well. That’s a constant for Bel-
lomo’s teams.
But this team’s quickness just might
give the offense more pizzazz.
“I think we are pretty balanced, ”
Bellomo said.
A little more height is also part of
the equation.
Bellomo hopes it all adds up to im-
proving on last year’s 11-10 record that
saw the Raiders bounced in the open-
ing round of the Division I playoffs.
FUN FACT: Bellomo and his broth-
ers Kevin and Jeff all played for Ver-
mont in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl,
the annual high school all-star football
game against New Hampshire.
RUTLAND WEST RUTLAND
Coach Nate Bellomo is excited
Who are these kids? The Marble
Valley League will be introduced to
the Golden Horde soon and the rest of
the loop will have to learn the names.
The familiar cast — perhaps as good a
class as they have ever had at Westside
— has turned their collective tassel.
Not a single starter is back from
the team that made it all the way to
the Division IV state final where the
Horde lost to Mount St. Joseph. The
Horde finished 17-3 — all three losses
to MSJ.
“It will be a lot different. It has been
a long time since I have had no starters
back, ” West Rutland coach Carl Serra-
ni said.
There are five returning who at least
saw some varsity minutes — Shelby
Grabowsk