Girls basketball spotlight: Malverne's young stars are off to program's best start in years

Ty'Zanae Reed remembers what it’s like to be an eighth and ninth grader on a varsity team. It can be intimidating at times, but just like Reed, now a senior, did when she was that age, the younger Malverne girls basketball players are proving they belong on the varsity. And they’ve helped Malverne off to one of its best starts in many years.

Malverne is 8-5 overall, including 3-2 in Nassau Conference A-II, this season and the Mules surpassed their win total from five of the last six seasons before even reaching the 2025 calendar year. A combination of experienced players, such as Reed, and a young core has been the main reason for a significant turnaround.

“I feel like this season, everyone is playing to get everyone else better and not just for themselves,” Reed said. “In the previous years, we’ve had great experiences for the most part but there’s times when people are playing for themselves and I feel like this year’s team is really a team.”

Nevaeh Lopez, an eighth grader, leads at 11.7 points per game. Reed is averaging 9.3 and fellow senior Hazel Whitfield is averaging 8.9 points per game.

Reed and the upperclassmen quickly recognized the younger players’ talents and wanted to welcome them as they remembered what it was like being in their positions.

“I feel like it’s hard for someone to have an opinion on something they’ve never been through before and to truly understand how a younger person might feel,” Reed said. “This is a lot of pressure on someone, especially in eighth grade . . . I feel it’s helped me overall because I’ve been in their position multiple times, so I kind of know what to say.”

And Reed could see this team was different from the previous ones she played on.

“I could just tell from the tryouts with everyone pushing each other that it was different,” Reed said. “You could just tell. When you play basketball, when you play sports, you can just feel it in the air.”

Coach Amanda Masson, in her seventh year, praised Reed and credited the team for quickly blending the young and older talent.

“They just have a different mindset and they had that mindset early,” Masson said. “Some kids usually get a little more serious toward the middle of the season, but from the day they walked in for tryouts, you could just tell the younger athletes were prepared and then the older athletes were being a role model for them and showing them how we do things and how we can turn the program around.”

Baldwin's back in Class AA

The Bruins season ended without a county championship last year for just the second time since 2010 after falling to Syosset, 49-44, in the Nassau Class AAA final. Due to enrollment, Baldwin dropped down to Class AA this year so although the Bruins won’t have a chance at redemption against Syosset, they remain focused on continuing the program’s legacy.

“It’s definitely a unique season for us,” coach Tom Catapano said. “We’re adapting and just trying to get better every day.”

When asked if the team wishes they could have that potential rematch with Syosset, Catapano just smiled and directed his answer back to what the team can control.

“It just is what it is,” he said. “We’ll play whoever’s on our schedule but we’re just trying to be the best versions of ourselves and we’re looking forward to the challenge. There’s a lot of really good teams both in Nassau and Suffolk, so one day at a time for us.”