SECTION 4 GIRLS' BASKETBALL: TWO-TIME DEFENDING SECTIONAL CHAMP BLUE RAIDERS PREPARE FOR NEW SEASON (15 PHOTOS) (November 18, 2025)

BY BRIAN FEES
Southern Tier Sports Report
HORSEHEADS — Coming off their second straight sectional title the Horseheads girls’ basketball team got back to work on Monday as practices started for the winter sports season.

“It’s exciting,” Horseheads coach Andy Scott said. “Coach Bonnell and I have a really good group of girls. It’s a young group. Obviously we lost some faces, some big name talent that went and played D1 and D3 softball and basketball. But, at the same time, we have a lot of great athletes and basketball players coming back, so we are excited to come back and get things started up again.”

The team returns two key starting guards in Sammie Bonnell and Maddie Ribble, along with a number of others players who got key playing time a year ago.

“They (Bonnell and Ribble) are really great athletes. Then you have a couple girls who are going to play Division I lacrosse in Lexi Lese and Lauren Kozemko and you have some young kids coming in with (Maggie) Tremaine who is a freshman and (Gianna) Hughey so you have a nice mix, plus your seniors, you have Peyton Butts and Sadie Gustin, so it’s a really nice group of kids, so we are excited for it. (Ella) Jankowski is our goalie in soccer, she’s a heck of an athlete and a competitor. Grace Cronin, a senior, and Mya Piecuch, a junior, so just a lot of really great kids out there that you can’t ask for much better. 

“My wife told me today leaving, you know whatyou are going to have one of the nicest teams, the hardest working teams you have ever had and she was spot on.”

 The team is ready for the year as they get back to work.

“They looked excited,” Scott said. We have some new pennies on, we have new uniforms coming this year. The girls like to have that swag. the team shoes are coing in, but you know, they put in the work. We didn’t do a lot of scrimmaging this fall because a lot of the girls play soccer. So, we just did some shooting when they could make it, but at the end of the day they are going to get after it. They are a really good gorup of kids. They played all summer with us. they are into it. I think it’s going to be fun. It’s a group that knows how to win, which is important. And, we look forward to getting better every day.”
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES

PHOTO GALLERY FROM PRACTICE:



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