Sports

from e-Newspaper for June 30, 2021

Sports & Recreation

WITH Jim Hague

ogsmar@aol.com

Kearny’s Osorio refl ects on crazy college year at Moravian

Needless to say, it wasn’t the most conventional college freshman year for Kearny native Samantha Osorio at Moravian College in Pennsylvania.

Osorio, the 2019-2020 Observer Female Athlete of the Year out of Kearny High School, had to endure the pandemic-stricken school year at Moravian, one that resulted in just 10 games played.

“The adjustment to college life was difficult, especially because of the pandemic,” said Osorio, one of the best all-around players to ever come out of Kearny High. “I couldn’t see friends. I couldn’t go out. I was totally quarantined. I got tested three times a week. So all of that did take some getting used to. I was able to go to some classes.”

But 10 games doesn’t exactly make a season. It’s more like an extended scrimmage period.

“It was really difficult,” Osorio said. “In the beginning, I had no clue what I was doing. I had to be up for the challenge.”

As it turned out, Osorio was definitely ready for the challenge, averaging almost 10 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per outing. She recorded career-highs with 19 points and 11 rebounds, ironically at Drew, a school that was recruiting Osorio out of high school. Osorio shot an outstanding 52 percent from the floor. Twice, Osorio was named the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Week.

Although Osorio is able to retain her status as a freshman at Moravian, it’s doubtful that she will be eligible to receive any rookie awards this season because she played 10 games. But Osorio still has four years of basketball at Moravian, a place where Osorio is comfortable and loves playing basketball and going to school.

“I really enjoyed the year,” Osorio said. “I couldn’t miss out on the year. I didn’t hesitate or second guess myself. I wasn’t going to allow the pandemic to just stand in my way. I was able to stay on top of everything.”

Osorio admitted that she was indeed a little nervous before her first game against Lancaster Bible College.

“The first game, I had no idea who was going to start,” Osorio said. “But then, I saw my name on this tape with the starting five’s name on it. I could almost cry. I had no clue whatsoever about starting.”

Once the game started, Osorio showed no nervous jitters, scoring 14 points in

Lyndhurst’s Martin presented with Observer Female Athlete of Year

Becomes fourth Golden Bear girl to receive honor

Photo courtesy of Jim Hague Carley Martin (center left) receives the 2020-2021 Observer Female Athlete of the Year award from Observer sportswriter Jim Hague. From left are Lyndhurst athletic director Jeff Radigan; Lyndhurst High School principal Laura Vuono; Michelle and Chuck Martin, Carley’s parents; Hague, Carley Martin, head softball coach Sara Fusco, head girls’ basketball coach Perrin Mosca, assistant superintendent of schools Joseph DeCorso and vice principal Frank Venezia. By Jim Hague ogsmar@aol.com

LYNDHURST – There was always a connection between Carley Martin and Camila Alonso, going back to the days when Martin was just becoming a teenager and Alonso was breaking all kinds of scoring records at Lyndhurst High School.

You see, Martin’s father, Chuck, the former boys’ basketball coach at Lyndhurst, used to run a basketball camp that Alonso regularly attended.

That was all that young Carley needed as an inspiration to attend her father’s camp.

You see, young Carley used to look up to Alonso back then some eight years ago.

“Camila was my absolute idol growing up,” Martin said in an interview last March. “I remember her teaching me how to do drop steps and up-and-unders. I wanted to do whatever she did. I was absolutely obsessed with her. I wanted her fame and I wanted her glory.”

There was another aspect to Alonso’s game that intrigued Martin. Alonso was the last Lyndhurst girl to reach the prestigious 1,000-point plateau.

That is, before Martin achieved the goal that she wanted to have since third grade.

Four years ago, when Martin was still in grade school, she was approached by some of the local private high schools to see if Carley would attend there. No chance.

“I wanted to play where my father once coached,” Martin said. “I remember going to practices with him when I was a little girl. I was the one who had the ball in my hands all the time. I always said that I wanted to be in Lyndhurst.”

Martin wanted to do what her idol did in high school.

Last week, Martin added another item in her attempts to be like Camila Alonso.

Martin picked up The Observer Female Athlete of the Year award, becoming only the fourth Lyndhurst High product to receive the year-end honor, and Martin became the first basketball player to receive the honor since Alonso received it in 2013.

The other Golden Bears to receive the year-end honor from The Observer are Cassie Indri in 2008-2009 and Giulia Pezzolla, who won the award in 2018-2019.

Martin, who was also a fine softball player to go along with her historic basketball skills, received her award last week from this sports writer with her parents, coaches and school officials present.

“This means everything to me,” Martin said. “It’s the best news I’ve received all year. To get recognized this way it’s amazing. I honestly didn’t think I had a chance. I had no idea what the criteria was and should I be in the running.”

The Observer’s Athlete of the Year (the male honoree will be featured next week) is given to the female and male athletes who perform their best in more than one varsity sport and conduct themselves

MARTIN

Continued from Page 9

in a professional manner.

Martin’s first love was of course basketball, especially having a coach for a father.

“Dad is definitely the one who pushed me to this,” Martin said of her father. “All of my accomplishments and honors should go to him. I couldn’t be half as accomplished as I am without him. People would argue with me because Dad was so hard on me. But now I appreciate all he did. I never would have been the sixth Lyndhurst girl to get to 1,000 points or the fourth Lyndhurst girl to receive this award.”

Martin said that her love of basketball just grew and grew from the time she was four years old.

“I think I was always his little boy at heart,” Martin said. “We spent so much time shooting and working on things. I really owe it all to him.”

Martin averaged 19.3 points this season for the Golden Bears, who went 9-6 in the truncated schedule caused by the pandemic.

“She progressed tremendously,” said Lyndhurst head girls’ basketball coach Perrin Mosca. “She was a huge focus for our offense, but she handled it well. Everything we did, we ran through her. We wanted her to do things we really didn’t need her to do. But she handled everything.”

She scored her 1,000th point on Senior Day – with just two games remaining in the season.

Martin then joined the softball team this season, after sitting out the previous two campaigns.

“I used to play softball a lot,” said Martin, who wrote a poem in tribute to her former pitching coach Jim MacDonald, after “Coach Mac” passed away suddenly seven years ago. It was that poem and tribute to Coach Mac that enabled Martin to first gain recognition in The Observer.

“All my friends played softball,” Martin said. “My best friends are Gianna Alberti and Alexa Borino and they encouraged me to play. I figured I could help them out.”

Martin became the starting right fielder and had 18 RBI batting most of the season in the No. 9 position in the lineup.

The Golden Bears won the Liberty Division of the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference championship and advanced all the way to the North Jersey Section 2, Group II semifinals, posting a 19-7 record.

“She was a great addition,” said Lyndhurst head softball coach Sara Fusco. “She’s a lefty and we had a position in right field open. She handled that well. Carley was also 100 percent a leader on the team as a senior. That was super important to our success. She never let the little things bother her. She was smiling all the time. I never had the chance to coach Carley before this year. I never had her in class. But I got to know her well this year and she was wonderful to have. She’s definitely going to be missed.”

Martin is off to Misericordia University in Pennsylvania in the fall, where she will play basketball. She will major in government with a possibility of law school on the horizon. Maybe she will work in homeland security. She doesn’t truly know just yet.

One thing is for sure. She’s a Lyndhurst girl, through and through.

“I will always be a Lyndhurst girl at heart,” Martin said. “Lyndhurst will always be a big part of me. I think I was able to make the most of my time in high school. I made lifelong friendships and relationships that I will always remember. I will never forget where I came from. All in all, I feel like I’ve left my mark.”

And left a legacy for other girls to try to achieve or possibly surpass. That will be up to the next Carley Martin.

Photo courtesy of Jim Hague Carley Martin, the 2020-2021 Observer Female Athlete of the Year, receives her award from Observer sportswriter Jim Hague.

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THE OBSERVER FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

2004-2005 Janine Davis, Queen of Peace 2005-2006 Kelly Rauco, Nutley 2006-2007 Courtney Keegan, Queen of Peace 2007-2008 Allyson Dyl, Kearny 2008-2009 Cassie Indri, Lyndhurst 2009-2010 Tara Fisher, North Arlington 2010-2011 Janitza Aquino, Kearny 2011-2012 Stefanie Gomes, Kearny 2012-2013 Camila Alonso, Lyndhurst 2013-2014 Grace Montgomery, Nutley and Nicole Kelly, Kearny 2014-2015 Carly Anderson, Nutley 2015-2016 Amber Crispin, Kearny 2016-2017 Lily Durning, Kearny 2017-2018 Meagan McClelland, Kearny 2018-2019 Giulia Pezzolla, Lyndhurst 2019-2020 Samantha Osorio, Kearny 2020-2021 Carley Martin, Lyndhurst

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