By PAUL GOTHAM
Jeff Parizek knows what to expect when his squad takes the court this weekend in the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Summer Hoops Festival.
The head coach of the three-time reigning Rochester girls’ team understands his players will get everyone else’s best shot.
“Obviously, everybody is going to be looking to take us out,” Parizek said. “It’s definitely a little pressure, but it’s a fun pressure, because they’re such talented kids that you want to challenge them to be the best.”
Parizek’s squad opens pool play of the tournament with two games on Friday. Two more games are scheduled for Saturday at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Orange County. The semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday.
Lucy Bush (Pittsford Sutherland), Eva Dixon (Pittsford Mendon), Loren Green (Aquinas), Braelyn Isaman (Keshequa), Semaj Jackson (East) and Emerson Wandtke (Pittsford Mendon) return from the squad that Central, 59-51 in last year’s championship game.
“There’s no micromanaging this group because the talent is unbelievable,” said Parizek who serves as the head coach at Genesee Community College during the season. “We (the coaching staff) just gotta stay out of their way. The best thing we can do is let them play, and just give them some structure, give them some constructive criticism when needed, but just let them play, stay out of their way, because they’re so special.”
Newcomers Alyssa Cowart (Eastridge), Sophia Frayne (Canandaigua), Petra Hunt (Pittsford Sutherland), Avery Kroening (Webster Schroeder), Emalyn Mucher (Fillmore) and Alicia Wood (Keshequa) out the Rochester team.
“The depth is unbelievable,” said Parizek who has been the head coach of the Rochester team since the inception of Summer Hoops Festival in 2011. “Our second group, the seven kids who aren’t going to start in a game, are all high-level kids that could easily start in any other region.”
Rochester opens against Mid-Hudson on Friday afternoon and then plays Buffalo later in the day. On Saturday, the three-time reigning champions will face Nassau and Southern Tier.
“I look forward to this tournament every year,” Parizek said. “Now that I’m coaching at the college level, I’ve seen some of the higher levels of basketball. But this is the elite. These are kids that are just so talented. You just don’t, you don’t have to worry about the little things. They have it all. You just got to make sure that you can find a way for them to share a basketball and play together and buy into a team philosophy for three days. The practices are just so much fun, because it’s just, it’s a who’s who, and letting them get to know each other and play with each other is just, it’s fun to watch.”
Last year’s title was the fifth overall for the Rochester girls.
The two local teams share the rare distinction of both being reigning champions heading into this year’s tournament.
Just don’t expect the Rochester boys to rest on last year’s accomplishment.
“We had a Zoom meeting as a team on Sunday night and talked about it,” second-year head coach Chris Barrett said of the 2025 championship. “We were like, it’s the last time we’re going to mention it. You know about it, and it was done. That was a different team.”
Returners include Jonah Bialek (Fillmore), Jackson Green (Penfield), Campbell Mucher (Fillmore), Trevor Nally (Pittsford Mendon) and Landon Washburn (Honeoye).
Newcomers consist of Roman Maldonado (Irondequoit), Antonio Nurse (Fairport), Mateo Pietrantoni (Webster Thomas), Nemo Pye (Gates Chili), Brayden Stedman (Churchville-Chili) and Dylan Washburn (Honeoye).
For Barrett, the challenge is to have each kid remain true to who they are during the high school season.
“They made it because they’re really good at the things they do, and so it would be foolish to bring them in here and try to change everything they do in a couple days,” Barrett said. “Like Brayden Steadman is one of the best catch-and-shoot guys in Section 5. “And he’ll take a deep, quick three because he’s a great shooter. We’re okay with that because that’s who he is. We don’t want anybody to change anything they do fundamentally, because that’s why they’re here.”
At the same time, Barrett wants to create an atmosphere that helps develop individual players and prepare them for basketball after high school.
“We want to mimic a week of college basketball,” He said. “We’re going to try to run good stuff. We’re going to try to have good core principles and compete and all those things, but we want to be organized, and we want to be structured.”
The Rochester lineup consists of several players with big-game experience. Green earned Tournament MVP and led Penfield to the NYSPHSAA Class AA championship this past winter. Nurse was part of the Fairport Red Raiders’ team that reached the NYS Class AAA championship game. Dylan and Landon Washburn helped Honeoye to the NYS Class C title game in 2025. Nally was part of the Pittsford Mendon team that won Section V Class AA1 in 2026 while Bialek and Mucher helped Fillmore to the Section V Class D championship in 2025.
“Guys like that are not afraid of anybody or any game or any moment,” Barrett said. “When we picked the team, that is something that factors into it. We want guys that this is just basketball for them. It’s not a big deal.
“The biggest eye-opener is how willing they all are to be a cog in the machine. You know, like, all these guys are the best player on their teams…The thing that has been most pleasurable with this experience is how willing these guys are to accept the fact that, like, they’re gonna play a little different role on a great team.”
The Rochester boys open against Mid-Hudson on Friday and play Central later in the day. On Saturday, Rochester squares off with Suffolk and then North Country.
Same as with the girls’ schedule, semifinals and finals for boys are slated for Sunday.
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