Mount's Summer Hoops League
Includes Top North Jersey Teams

CALDWELL- Mount St. Dominic’s Brian Dorf not only tries to act like a sponge when it comes to absorbing all he can learn from the other coaches he knows, but he also values the history of the place he’s working at while always looking to make his basketball team better than it’s been.

 

One way to promote the growth of the Mount girls hoops program and keep the players in a basketball frame of mind, along with involving several other North Jersey teams, is a new venture initiated by Dorf with the blessing of the Mount school administration, which is the Mount's 2025 Summer League.

 

Action, involving 10 teams, begins Monday, June 23, and covers seven nights of basketball leading up to the July 23 playoffs.

 

The Mount, West Orange, North Star Academy, West Essex, Caldwell and Verona make up the six teams from Essex County in the Lions’ summer league, while also participating will be Morris Hills, Randolph and Roxbury from Morris County and Somerset County based Bridgewater-Raritan also making the journey over to the first-rate Richard J. Codey gymnasium on the Mount’s Caldwell campus.  

 

“We have such tremendous facilities here at the Mount, and looking to build on the great fall league that (former Mount coach) Jerry Aquino used to run, I thought it was a great time to start a summer league here,” said Dorf. “A shout out to coach Brian Dillon of Morris Hills, who is a good friend, and who threw out the idea of a summer league to me, along with thanking (Athletic Director) Dave Cohen at Livingston, who gave me the opportunity to gain such great experience helping run camps and AAU tournaments there, I know how good this could be for our girls here at the Mount, plus we have some terrific programs also getting involved, so everyone can gain some great experience together during the summer while looking to continue to enjoy some really good competition.

 

“I just think it’s a ‘win-win’ for everyone, and I thank the folks at the Mount for believing in what we’re trying to do here.

 

“The Mount has a great basketball tradition with teams like the 1994 Tournament of Champions squad coached by Debbie Malmgren, and Jerry Aquino followed with some very good teams through the years.

 

“We’ve had a few tough seasons lately, and we definitely want to bring basketball here back to its winning ways, and working together during the summer is a great way to keep that positive energy moving forward!”

 

One of the top teams in the new Mount Summer League is definitely West Orange, which reached the Group 4 state final last March after winning the Essex County Tournament title with a win over Immaculate.

 

Coach Caniece Montague’s Mountaineers will return top players such as rising junior guard Rhyan Watt, plus have added Immaculate transfer London Caldwell, another talented backcourt performer.

 

Nearby Verona, guided by another outstanding coach in Patty Coyle, returns most of its lineup from last winter’s strong team, including strong forwards such as rising junior Eliana Marateo and senior Jada Bednar.

 

The Mount’s Borough of Caldwell neighbor, James Caldwell High School, has its entire team back from a squad that finished 26-4 last season while reaching the North 2, Group 2 state sectional final vs. Madison, led by the dynamic high-scoring, rising junior guard Addison Keenan, the daughter of veteran head coach Amanda Keenan, along with the Fiore sisters, rising senior Tea and sophomore Fallon, who have great sports genes as they are the granddaughters of legendary former St. Peter’s and Montclair State University coach Ted Fiore, who was also a standout athlete at Seton Hall Prep and at the University.    

 

Dillon’s Morris Hills team has an outstanding North Jersey ‘big’ in 6-foot-3 Juliet Johnson and a fine guard in Nicole Rivera.

 

Randolph is guided by veteran coach Marc Cacciacarne whose daughter Adrianna is a former softballl and track and field standout at the Mount who is now a weight thrower for the Lafayette College women's track team. Dorf worked under her dad with both the West Orange boys and Randolph girls basketball teams.

 

“There are some terrific coaches bringing their teams into our summer league and I couldn’t be happier to have such quality programs joining us in the Codey gymnasium for what we believe will be some exciting and very competitive basketball for fans to see,” said Dorf. “We’re really looking forward to getting the games underway and it should be a lot of fun for all the girls competing out there over the next couple of months.”

 

NOTES- A strong officiating crew, including longtime top New Jersey high school referee Johnny Vizzone, will be on hand to help make the Mount Summer League games run smoothly…North Star Academy will be coming in with its coach, former Montclair boys head man Gary Wallace who starred at both Seton Hall Prep and Robert Morris College…The Mount is welcoming two promising rising freshmen prospects on its summer league team in 6-1 guard Hailey Root, who is the granddaughter of Essex County Executive Joe D’Vincenzo, and guard Sofia Gonzalez from Bloomfield…Dorf is hoping to have the Mount softball players involved in as many summer basketball games as possible when they are not away with their travel softball or college summer camps. All-state first baseman Jill Cianfrocca, star pitcher Ava Kelshaw and last year’s basketball team’s leading scorer and Mount shortstop Bella Iannitelli, are among the top softball players who also fill key roles for the basketball team during the winter season.          

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