“We had a great group of girls that did whatever was asked to the best of their ability,” says Sottolano, who returned to the bench after 20 years away, “We won seven games .. we lost two games by two points and we competed in most games, despite our record.”

The Indians also had another three losses that came by single digits, and while they did suffer a few lopsided defeats .. twice to small school champ Northeast Bradford and to large school champ Troy .. without those losses their average margin of defeat was just over 10 points.

After starting the season with wins over Oswayo Valley and a perennially strong Athens’ team, the Lady Indians struggled through an 8-game losing skid while new players mixed with the returners and got comfortable in Sottolano’s system. 

“Since I haven't coached in 20 years, I wasn’t sure what to expect,” says Sottolano, “I knew the girls were super athletic .. in a ‘jump high’, ‘run fast’ way .. so our focus going into the season centered around running a structured offense and defense, shot selection, court balance, transitioning between defenses, rebounding .. really just the basics.”

CV would go 5-7 in the second half of the season .. earning season splits with both Canton and North Penn-Liberty .. and finished 6-10 in the NTL and 4-6 in the small school division, both improvements from the last several seasons. 

The Indians were led in scoring by juniors Ella Churchill (11.2 ppg) and Ashley Woodring (9.9 ppg) and the pair grabbed over 350 rebounds between them on the season. Churchill was CV’s leading scorer in 13 games while Woodring was six times and the two shared high scoring honors twice. 

Coach Sottolano points to her quartet of seniors as players whose contributions will be missed. 

“Kyra Daley (3.5 ppg) played all four years of varsity,” says Sottolano, “and her versatility really helped us. She had 40 steals and 73 rebounds and hit some key shots that kept us in games this year.”

“Maddie Millard (3.7 ppg) returned to basketball this year after taking a year off and things came back to her quickly and her speed and defensive ability made a huge difference,” says Sottolano, “She had 42 steals and also hit some key shots to help us stay in games. Maddie was the player that we could put on a shooter and she could shut them down. We also relied on her to play the point position .. not a place she was super comfortable .. but we lost our ball handler to an injury halfway through the season.”

“Logan Hamilton also returned this year after taking a season off,” says Sottolano, “and she picked up quickly and became a starter. Logan played in the post and held her own, despite giving up some height to her opponents. Her court awareness and competitive drive made her a leader on the team and she also came up with some key points and rebounds in tight games.”

“Madison Schoonover had never played basketball until this year,” says Sottolano, “and she saw some quality playing time, even starting some games. She’s super athletic, quick, and she hustles on the court.  What she gave up in knowledge of the game, she made up in hustle. She also kept a positive mindset and brought energy to the team every day!”

While Sottolano says the seniors from her first season back will be missed, she’s excited to see what a strong group of underclassmen can do.

“We have some talented kids moving up,” says Sottolano, “I’m anxious to see what our off-season looks like .. who is willing to work .. and how next season rolls out!”

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