Newsday's Long Island All-Decade girls basketball players: The 1970s
From left: Floretta Jackson, Carol Walderman and Kelley Watts.
The 1970s was the decade of transformation.
It started in 1971 when 5-on-5 girls basketball replaced the old 6-on-6 version, allowing girls to play the game that boys had been playing for decades. The passage of Title IX followed in 1972, a landmark federal law that gave female athletes equal opportunity in sports. This meant that girls high school teams quickly began to appear across Long Island. But the 1970s wasn't a full decade since Title IX wasn’t enforced until 1975. There were no girls high school leagues until 1978. Nonetheless, there were some outstanding pioneer girls playing the game and laying the groundwork for future generations.
Newsday began to recognize the girls game with its first All-Long Island team in 1984. Sue Wicks of Center Moriches was the shining star on that team after averaging almost 40 points per game and eventually became the national collegiate player of the year at Rutgers. Not a bad start for Long Island girls high school basketball.
The selection committee consisted of two longtime sportswriters, Gregg Sarra and Mike Candel. Sarra has covered high schools for 40 years. Candel covered high school and college sports from 1976 until his retirement in 2002.
Sachem's Barbara Durham, right, in the Suffolk championship game on March 9, 1979. Credit: Newsday/Thomas R. Koeniges
Barbara Durham, Sachem
The first 1,000-point scorer in Sachem history, who, according to Sachem coach Risa Zander, put the girls program on the proverbial map when she scored 39 points in a playoff win over Brentwood in 1977. The shooting guard led Long Island to the gold medal at the first Empire State Games in 1977. She went on to play at Wake Forest.
Floretta Jackson, Wyandanch
The three-time All-Suffolk selection was a Parade All-American and a Street & Smith All-American. She started her career in 1979 and led Wyandanch to two public school state titles and a state Federation crown in 1983. She played for James Madison, where she was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. She also was selected to the CAA All-Decade team from 1985-1995.
Sue Johnson, Whitman
A three-sport star at Whitman from 1978-1982 who went on to a record-breaking career at Yale. She would play basketball, lacrosse and soccer at Yale, but it was on the hardwood where she flourished. She was a four-year starter and one of the most outstanding players in program history, setting nine university records. She was a two-time All-Ivy League first-team selection and led Yale in scoring twice, rebounding three times and set a single-season record with 74 steals. Johnson coached at Yale, Princeton and Boston College before taking the head coaching job at New Hampshire for 10 years. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Eileen McCann, Smithtown
She could score on the inside or bounce it outside. She was known for her ballhandling skills and vision to see the court and make the great pass. She played for four years at North Carolina and helped the Tar Heels win an ACC title. She was invited to the Olympic camp for a tryout. The Smithtown West graduate was a gold medalist in the 1978 Empire State Games. She is currently a New York State trooper.
Jennifer Mitchell of Hempstead scored 60 points in a game in 1972.
Jennifer Mitchell, Hempstead
Probably the greatest Long Island girls basketball player no one ever heard of because she played before the advent of Title IX. Imagine, when she scored 60 points in a 62-60 win over Bethpage, there was no box score or story in any newspaper. Those 60 points stood as a Long Island record for 40 years. She had a stellar career at Federal City College in Washington, D.C., where she earned the nickname, "Jump Shot Jen." Mitchell, who was known to have a respiratory condition, died suddenly at 22 years old from what a newspaper reported was a blood clot. The top player of the 1970s.
Melissa Pearsall, Oceanside
Like many girls before her, Melissa Pearsall was ahead of her time. A great all-around athlete in the 1920s, she was the leading basketball scorer on the South Shore and went on to play several years with a traveling girls professional basketball team. She was inducted into the Nassau High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. We put her on the All-Decade team in recognition of all those girls who never got the chance to play high school basketball or any other sport.
Debbie Polcer, Long Beach
She played three years in the 1970s and was one of the most outstanding players in Nassau by the time she graduated in 1980. One of the best female players ever produced at Long Beach, she went on to become an All-Region selection at Nassau Community College, followed by a solid two-year career at Seton Hall in the Big East.
Marie Riley, Centereach
In an epic showdown, Riley, a two-time All-Suffolk selection, and Far Rockaway star Nancy Lieberman packed the gym with fans who watched what was considered the two best players from the local area. “An unforgettable experience,” said Sachem coach Risa Zander, who was in attendance. “The atmosphere was great.” The 5-10 guard went on to become a three-time Carolinas Conference female athlete of the year and led High Point University to three conference titles and an AIAW national championship in 1978. She scored 1,949 points in her career. In 2016, she was inducted into the High Point Hall of Fame. She also played tennis and volleyball in college.
Carol Walderman, Centereach
The 5-10 forward was way ahead of her time and part of a fierce Centereach-Sachem rivalry. An athletic scorer with tremendous defensive skills, Walderman led Centereach to three straight Suffolk titles from 1976 to 1978, posting a 60-3 record in that period. The three-time All-Suffolk selection averaged 16 points per game. She was a three-sport athlete, also selected All-Suffolk in field hockey and softball. She played for one year at Colorado and then scored 1,280 points in three years at Penn State.
Kelley Watts, Bay Shore
The Marauders’ big playmaker was their assist leader for two years. She averaged 17 points per game as a senior and accepted a full scholarship to play guard at Rutgers, where Watts helped lead the Scarlet Knights to the first perfect conference season in Atlantic 10 history. She served as the head coach at Merchant Marine Academy and St. Joseph’s (LI). She was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Coach: Risa Zander, Sachem
She was there from the start and her impact was felt through the Seventies and beyond as she was one of the first coaches to promote and influence the girls’ game. Whether it was coaching the Empire State Games, where she led Long Island to gold, silver and bronze medals in her six years, or coordinating the Newsday Classic pitting New York City all-stars against Long Island, Zander was right in the thick of it all. She coached from 1974 through 1996 and had a career record of 338-96. She led Sachem to nine Class A league titles, four Suffolk crowns and two regional wins before winning a state championship in 1985. She was named the National High School Basketball Coach of the Year for the 1990-91 season. She was the first woman to be inducted into the New York State Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.