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Women's Team

The Putnam Science Academy women's basketball team. Courtesy photo.

 

PUTNAM — After being hired and tasked with the responsibility of starting the women’s basketball program at Putnam Science Academy, it looks like coach Derek Marchione is well on his way to building a team to be reckoned with this coming winter. 

The roster consist of players from New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts along with international players from Spain and Lithuania. 

In women’s prep basketball circles, it is not very often that you find a team with multiple players over 6 feet tall. On this PSA roster, coach Marchione was able put together a group of post players that features four players who are at least 6-foot, 1-inch or taller. Leading this group is post-graduate Aislinn Flynn, who became the first female in Putnam Science Academy history to commit to a Division 1 program in Towson University. The group also features the Lady Mustangs two international players, Paula Barghout (Spain), who has also accepted a scholarship to Idaho State University and Aist Vaiteknait, a 6-3 senior forward from Lithuania who is already receiving interest from a number of universities as well. Rounding out the post group is New York native Abigail Robinson who has re-classified into the class of 2020.

Don’t let the size of the frontcourt surprise you, the Lady Mustangs backcourt may end up being the group that carries this team. Led by two floor generals hailing from New York, senior Kayla Robinson and sophomore Niya Fields, the offense will be in excellent hands. At the shooting guard position, PSA is very deep, featuring Abrial Murray, a post-graduate from Newington who is known for her toughness and ability to shoot the ball from outside. Joining her is a senior guard of Worcester, Margiona Bacaliu, along with junior Fatima Lee of New York and post-graduate Melicia Mendez from Hartford.

The remaining members of this year’s squad are post-grad Sha’raya Haines, a 2017 graduate from Springfield Central HS in Springfield, Mass. There she earned MVP honors for the state tournament; and, two local products, Ariana Koivisto of Woodstock and Kira Clinkscale of Putnam. Koivisto makes the jump to PSA after a stellar first two years at Woodstock Academy and is already gaining interest from a host of Division I schools. With the roster complete and practices already under way, the Lady Mustangs will look to make their mark on the prep scene starting on Nov. 17, when they head down to New Jersey to compete against Life Center Academy.