Nutley HS girls basketball team looks to contend for SEC divisional title this season

Nutley head coach Larry Mitschow watches the action from a game in January 2020.

NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School girls basketball team hopes to have a successful season.

Larry Mitschow, a 1993 NHS graduate, is entering his 25th season coaching at Nutley and enters his 11th season as the NHS head girls basketball coach.

Mitschow outlined his team’s goals.

“For me, I like to set goals that are achievable,” he said in an email to the Nutley Journal. “Right now, I would say contend for a league title, get a top 8 seed in the county and state tournament, and to win our Christmas tournament. This season we will be playing in the Liberty Division of the SEC (Super Essex Conference), which is the second highest in the county. Last year we took our lumps playing in the top division (American Division), but I think that will help us this year in the long run.

“Getting a top 8 seed in the counties and states gives us at least one home game in each. We would love to host those important games and feed off our home court advantage. We will be playing in the Lodi Christmas Tournament again this year, and after losing to Indian Hills

in the finals last year, we hope to take the next step and bring home the title this year. But most of all, we want our kids to enjoy coming to the gym everyday and making friendships that can last forever.

“Last year we finished with an overall record of 13-14. I was very happy with the way we played last year, especially with the tough schedule we encountered. I felt like we won the games we were supposed to win. This season should be even better.”

Here is the NHS team roster:

Senior

Liana Minichini, guard.

Juniors

Anna Green, guard.
Riley Sebastiano, guard.
Cynthia Depersio, guard.
Mina Shaw, forward.
Morgan Dolaghan, guard.

Sophomores

Grace Christie, forward.
Isabel Riccardi, center.
Casey Arroyo, guard.
Sofia Miller, forward.

Freshman

Mikayla Albert, forward.

Mitschow talked about the players.

Minichini is the only senior on the roster and returns to the team after taking last year off. She is looking to become a consistent scorer.

Green, a point guard, is a top returning scorer.

Sebastiano is a great 3-point shooter who will look to get to the basket more off the dribble.

Depersio is another point guard and a great defender who is looking to provide more offense.

Shaw, battling for a starting spot, brings energy and defense.

Dolaghan is a 3-point shooting threat and provides scoring off the bench.

Christie is a great shooter who will look to rebound more and defend.

Riccardi is a solid post presence who will be counted on to dominate the boards and block shots.

Arroyo will look to provide speed off the dribble as a point guard off the bench.

Miller has been working hard in practice and will look to earn minutes.

Albert, a freshman, impressed in a summer league and will look to earn a varsity role.

Mitschow’s assistant coaches are Matt Francello and Kara McNish.

Mitschow said he has high hopes for his team to contend for the divisional title.

“I view our team as a legitimate contender this year in our division,” he said. “We no longer have to play the likes of University, East Orange, West Orange and Montclair Immaculate twice. Those teams were all at some point (in the) top 25 in the state. This year, the league will be tough, but I think we can challenge most of the teams we play. The only other time we played in this division, we won it.”

Here is the NHS season schedule: