By PAUL GOTHAM
Codi Battaglia-Mrozek didn’t hesitate when asked where her allegiances will lie Sunday morning.
With her own team’s season in the past and her alma mater playing in the state championship, the Webster Schroeder head coach will be pulling for the Li’l Irish.
“I’m an alum and rooting for Aquinas,” she said Saturday by phone. “They’ve done a great job. They have a great team. I hope they can get it done.”
As a player and coach, Battaglia Mrozek understands what it takes to get to the final weekend of the high school basketball season.
Then Codi Battaglia, she was part of the 2010-11 Aquinas team that advanced to the state championship – the first and only other team in the AQ girls’ program history to reach the final game of the season.
Under then-head coach Dan Johnson, the Li’l Irish lost to Irvington (I) in the finals. They returned the following year but fell to South Jefferson (III) in the NYS Class B semifinals.
“It was cool watching the Aquinas – Starpoint (state quarterfinal) game and they kept mentioning that Aquinas hasn’t been back to the state championship game since 2011,” she said. “That was my team. So many memories, the team dinners and all the things that you get there.
“I still have the lanyard that they give you. I still have my sneakers from when I played in high school. I was like, I can’t get rid of these sneakers. They’re in a bag at my parents’ house in the basement.”
Those experiences helped shape the now fourth-year head coach. She was at the helm when the Webster Schroeder girls won the 2023 NYS Class AA title – the only championship in that program’s history.
“Just the memories that we had there as a team were so special,” she said mentioning former teammates Nicole Bini and Teja Reaves. “To get back there as a coach and to share that with my team meant a lot. It takes a lot to get there.”
Since the Warriors’ most recent season ended in a loss to Aquinas in the Section V Class AA championship, Battaglia Mrozek has been sending encouragement to Li’l Irish head coach Mark Loria.
“It’s really cool. I texted him and have been wishing him good luck and to say ‘Embrace that moment.’ “
Sunday’s opponent is a familiar one for Battaglia Mrozek. Her Schroeder team beat Baldwin in the 2023 semifinals, 49-39.
“I remember during warmups looking at them and thinking, ‘Wow, they’re pretty athletic.’ “
Led by Mariah Watkins, Schroeder outlasted Baldwin. It took switching to a zone defense in the second half (something they hadn’t done all season) to win the game.
The current Li’l Irish squad gives opponents a steady diet of 2-3 and 3-2 zone along with a trapping press.
“I’m really excited for Aquinas. I hope they can pull it off and get the first state championship for girls’ basketball.”
A 10 a.m. tip-off is scheduled.
One memory that sticks out: Battlagia Mrozek’s time in high school ran parallel to that of current New York Liberty and former UConn star Breanna Stewart. She remembers getting on the elevator with the Cicero-North Syracuse alum.
“I remember us thinking, ‘Gosh, she’s going to UConn.’ I was going to Brockport. This was so cool.”
Leave a Reply