Hard work drives Lady Tigers

The 2011-12 girls’ basketball campaign hasn’t been easy on Lawrence Woodmere Academy, which has endured its share of growing pains and injuries, but coach Michael Cohn couldn’t be happier with the Lady Tigers’ work ethic.

“We haven’t been as successful as we’d like, but the girls practice hard and play hard,” Cohn said. “We’ve been focusing a lot on fundamentals, and they’re coming along. They have a real desire to get better and they’re not going to give up.

“It’s an inexperienced team, and we haven’t had our two most experienced players on the court at the same time very much because of injuries,” he added.

LWA’s leading scorer Melody Pierre-Gillies, who hit for 17 points in its lone win — 33-14 over IPPSAL rival Our Savior New American — is out indefinitely with concussion symptoms suffered Jan. 9 in a loss to Claremont Prep/Leman Manhattan. The senior captain knocked heads with an opponent while reaching for a loose ball and also suffered a cut that required stitches.

“Melody’s always been a shutdown defender,” Cohn said of the four-year varsity point guard, “and this season she’s stepped up to be our biggest offensive weapon. It was an adjustment, and she handled it well. We’re hoping to get her back, but it’s hard to say.”

The Lady Tigers were minus senior captain La’Ker Kwamogi, who plays forward and center, for three games earlier in the season. “She’s athletic with great leaping ability and gives us intense defense,” Cohn said.

Junior Ricardine Laventure did a nice job bringing the ball up the floor in the first two games of Pierre-Gillies’ absence, Cohn said, and sophomores Nicole Engelman and Maxie Solomon are also showing progress in their second seasons.

Senior Ariel Schindler, junior Majorie Quintiliano, and sophomore Tiffany Jae Philemy all chipped in four points in the win over Our Savior.

The Lady Tigers (1-4) are back in action Friday when they host Portledge at 4:15 p.m.