Local squads ready for annual BCANY Summer Hoops Festival

BY PAUL GOTHAM

One team is competing for a third straight championship while the other is looking to win its first title in nearly a decade.

The girls’ and boys’ teams from Rochester will take the court this weekend at the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Summer Hoops Festival.

“This might be the deepest team we’ve ever had,” said Jeff Parizek who has coached the Rochester girls’ team since the tournament’s inception in 2011. “We can substitute and not really be worried about matchups or situations where we’re outmanned.”

Loren Green (Aquinas), a three-year starter on Rochester’s BCANY team and high school teammate, AJ Orr, return from the 2024 team that won a second straight championship.

“Loren is not going to be shy,” Parizek said. “We’re going to be able to put the ball in her hands in crucial situations, and AJ gives us athleticism. She played a lot of minutes off the bench last year and adds that experience.”

The team includes newcomers Lucy Bush (Pittsford Sutherland), Lydia Childs (Brockport), Kylie Clement (Webster Schroeder), Eva Dixon (Pittsford Mendon), Jordyn Dyring (Hornell), Braelyn Isaman (Keshequa), Semaj Jackson (East), Tessa Rodwell (York) and Emerson Wandtke (Our Lady of Mercy). Cadence Brecker (HAC) played in a reserve role with last year’s squad.

“There’s not a huge drop-off from 1 through 12,” Parizek said.

Green and Orr helped lead Aquinas to the NYS Class AA final last March while Dyring was part of a Hornell team that advanced to the Class B state final. Bush started on a Sutherland squad that won the Section V Class A title and advanced to the state quarterfinals. Isaman helped lead Keshequa to the Class C regional.

“There is plenty of experience with those kids who played roles on championship teams,” Parizek.

The Rochester girls open against the North Country team on Friday and play Hudson Valley later in the day. Pool play continues on Saturday with games against Buffalo and Long Island.

The Rochester girls have won four BCANY championships under Parizek. The team also took titles in 2013 and 2018.

Cam Blankenberg (Wayne) and Christian Zarzycki (Penfield), the lone returners for the Rochester boys, are among eight players from the squad that won sectional titles this past March.

“That championship experience helps in the fact that we will walk into that gym with a little swagger and a little confidence,” said first-year head coach Chris Barrett of Webster Thomas. “The moment is not going to be too big. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time where we walk on the court and are intimidated.”

Blankenberg’s high school teammate Aidan Twist is one of 10 newcomers on the team that include Jonah Bialek (Fillmore), Carson Chaffee (Canisteo-Greenwood), Jackson Green (Penfield), Chase Leonardo (Irondequoit), Jake McCarthy (Penfield), Campbell Mucher (Fillmore), Trevor Nally (Pittsford Mendon) and Landon Washburn (Honeoye).

Blankenberg and Twist have been a part of Wayne Eagle teams that reached the NYS Class A final in 2024 and the state semifinals this year. Zarzycki along with Green and McCarthy helped the Penfield to its first sectional in more than 70 years. Washburn led Honeoye to its first sectional title in more than two decades. Bialek and Mucher were part of a Fillmore team that won a sectional title for the first time since 2010.

“They’ve played the best in the state already and a lot of them have been successful at that level,” Barrett said.

The Rochester boys’ team opens against Mid-Hudson on Friday afternoon and plays North Country later in the night. On Saturday, the local team continues against Suffolk and Capital District.

“If you look at our meter, we’re a little bit more skilled than athletic,” Barrett said. “We’re going to play some teams that get up 94 and pressure and run and jump. We are big enough to see over the top of that, and I think we are composed enough to know that we’re not going to beat it by trying to speed up.”

The Rochester boys last won the BCANY title in 2016 with a team that included current NBA players Jalen Pickett (Aquinas/Denver Nuggets), Isaiah Stewart (McQuaid/Detroit) and Jeenathan Williams (UPrep/Houston).

Blankenberg (The Wichendon School) and Zarzycki (Cheshire Academy) announced this past spring that they will be continuing their academic and athletic careers at boarding schools.

The top two teams from each of the four-team pools advance to the semifinals on Sunday. Championship games are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

All games will be played at Monroe-Woodbury High School.

The BCANY Summer Hoops Festival is organized/modeled after the Empire State Games – an Olympic-style tournament that is now defunct due to a lack of funding and limited participation across all sports.

*Article has been updated.