Albion girls have early basketball opener

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – This veteran quintet of Sydney Mulka, Kendall Derisley, Paige Derisley, Honesty Little and Abbie Pappalardo will lead Albion into the upcoming basketball season.

Facing a bit of a rebuilding task,  Albion is prepping for an early non league girls basketball opener as the Purple Eagles will visit Alden tomorrow.

The Purple Eagles, which lost seven players to graduation, are led by the veteran quintet of seniors Kendall Derisley, Paige Derisley and Abbie Pappalardo along with junior Honesty Little and sophomore Sydney Mulka.

Albion is also counting on senior Brianna Johnson, junior Melissa Robinson, sophomore Aly Knaak and freshman Ryin Olles.

“We have some big holes to fill and we’re really young,” said Coach Lucian Price. “We’re going to have to have our returning players step into bigger roles. We’re just focusing on getting better every practice and every game.”

The Purple Eagles graduation losses included Brylie Hapeman, Sierra Newton, Lexi Wolck, Sarah Gregori, Tess Pettit, Kirsten Struble and Natalie Lathrop. Hapeman earned first team Niagara-Orleans All-League honors and Wolck was a second team honoree.

Albion went 8-4 in N-O competition and 11-10 overall last year.

Schedule
November: 26 – at Alden, 7 p.m.
December: 3 – Elba, 7 p.m.; 6 – at LeRoy, 7 p.m.; 10 – Roy-Hart, 7 p.m; 13 – at Medina, 6:30 p.m.; 16 – Notre Dame, 7 p.m.; 19 – Akron, 7 p.m.
January: 3 – at Wilson, 6 p.m.; 6 – at Alexander, 7 p.m.; 7 – Barker, 7 p.m.; 10 – at Pembroke, 7 p.m.; 14 – at Newfane, 6:30 p.m.; 17 – at Roy-Hart, 7 p.m.; 23 – Medina, 7 p.m.; 28 – at Akron, 6:30 p.m.; 31 – Wilson, 7 p.m.
February: 4 – at Barker, 7 p.m.; 5 – Buffalo Arts, 7 p.m.; 11 – Newfane, 7 p.m.; 12 – Oakfield-Alabama, 7 p.m.