Ardsley Girls Advance to Regional Hoops Final

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March 11, 2025

By Tom Pedulla–

Ardsley overpowered Marlboro 76-40 at Yorktown High School on March 11 to advance to the regional final in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A girls’ basketball playoffs.

The stellar inside play of forwards Iva Corluka and Leah Buriss sent the 21-3 Panthers on to face Section 4’s Johnson City at Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton on March 16 at 5 p.m. The Lady Dukes, from Ulster County, slipped to 14-10.

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The 6-0 Corluka, committed to playing next season at Division 1 St. Bonaventure, was nearly unstoppable with 27 points and 18 rebounds. Buriss, a skillful 5-9 junior forward, contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds. And the keeper of the scorebook admitted she might have missed a few caroms for each player.

“I think we’ve got the two best bigs in the class. We’ve got to continue to prove that,” said jubilant coach Nick Resavy. “We’re going to continue to play through them. I don’t think anybody can stop the two of them.”

Ardsley had secured the first Gold Ball in the history of girls’ basketball at the school with a convincing 54-36 decision against Pelham in its previous game. This one against an overmatched Section 9 foe was never in doubt.

“I knew we were going to come in and dominate,” Corluka said simply.

The Panthers rattled off the first 17 points in the contest in a spree built on six points apiece from Corluka and Buriss. Corluka capped the decisive stretch with a spinning score inside before she put in her own rebound with 1:57 left in the opening period.

Marlboro coach Matt Murphy called for a timeout in a vain attempt to settle his team. Fittingly, the song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” blared over the loudspeaker during the break in action.

There were no words from Murphy or any coach that were going to stop the Panthers or even slow them down. “I thought they were well-coached and they executed. Obviously, the game plan was to kick it down low as often as you can and that’s exactly what they did,” he noted. “They were getting second, third and fourth opportunities. You can’t do much about that. You can’t teach height, unfortunately.”

The lead ballooned to 35-13 by halftime. Ardsley remained in control 59-33 through three quarters.

Resavy used the lopsided contest to prepare his players for what surely will be a tougher road ahead in their bid for a state championship. Any mistakes were corrected immediately after they occurred.

“We’re trying to win a state championship at this point. The regional semifinal came first. We had to get this win first,” he said. “We’re all about the game within the game. We can’t play the scoreboard. So when we mess up a communication or we mess up a switch or we don’t execute the right way, it might not have mattered in this game but it will matter at some point. So, we’ve got to clean that up.”

Corluka welcomes her coach’s relentless approach, recognizing how much it has meant to what is already a magical season. “Our mindset, even when we’re up that much, is to think of it as if the game is tied,” she said. “We never stop working hard.”

For Ardsley, a shot at the state title is near and yet so far. “We’re hoping to get there,” Buriss said. “We’re going to work our hardest and leave everything on the floor.”

A series of great practices will be needed in preparing for Johnson City, an opponent that may allow no margin for error.

“I’m very excited to try to get to states, but we have to go one game at a time,” Corluka said. “It’s important not to look too ahead.”

Murphy could not have been more impressed by the Panthers. He would not be surprised if they win it all.

“If they play like they did (against Marlboro), they’ve got a very good shot. Absolutely,” he said.

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