Newsday's Long Island All-Decade girls basketball players: The 1980s
Sue Wicks of Center Moriches, Kathy Gholson of Wyandanch and Marlane Ward of Wyandanch
With the girls game growing in popularity across Long Island, Newsday began to recognize those players with its first All-Long Island team in 1984. Sue Wicks of Center Moriches, the player of the decade, averaged almost 40 points per game. Coach Warren Fuller led Wyandanch to two state titles and coach Ollie Mills and his Hempstead Tigers dominated Nassau County.
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.
Missy Batchelor, St. Dominic
The 5-10 forward averaged 23 points as a senior — her fourth season as a varsity player — and finished her career with 1,854 points. She was selected for All-Long Island twice. The Doms were 27-2 and won the state Federation Class C title in 1989. Batchelor went on to play at Fordham.
Adrina Crichlow of Wyandanch. Credit: Newsday/Jim Peppler
Adrina Crichlow, Wyandanch
Crichlow was selected to Newsday’s first All-Long Island team in 1984. She averaged 26 points and 17 rebounds as a senior and finished her career with 1,372 points and 1,164 rebounds. Wyandanch was 75-3 in her three-year career. She played for North Carolina State, but multiple knee injuries cut her career short.
Lisa Dodd, Holy Trinity
The shot-blocking center was a three-time member of Newsday’s All-Long Island team, earning first team in 1985 and 1986. She scored 1,380 points and added 1,110 rebounds in her career. She went to Wake Forest and averaged 8.3 points in 111 career games.
Andrea Dwyer of Hampton Bays. Credit: Newsday/Julia Gaines
Andrea Dwyer, Hampton Bays
The 5-4 guard eclipsed Wicks' scoring total with 1,754 career points. She was a three-time All-Long Island selection, including two first-team picks. She played at Wake Forest.
Kathy Gholson, Wyandanch
She became Suffolk’s all-time scoring leader with 1,794 points. Gholson was a three-time All-Long Island selection from 1986-88. She averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds as a senior. She played for a year in college at Old Dominion.
Jill Januszewski, Oceanside
The greatest female athlete in school history, she was named All-County in basketball, volleyball and softball. She led the Sailors in scoring and rebounding on the way to the county final. She was a physical player with a soft shooting touch. She was inducted into the Nassau High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Monica Kost, Lindenhurst
She scored a school-record 1,426 points as a four-year starter. She averaged 20 points and 18 rebounds as a senior, leading the Bulldogs to the Long Island Class A title. She was the first sophomore to be selected to Newsday’s All-Long Island first team. She was a three-time All-Long Island pick, and played at Duke, averaging 8.6 points in 112 career games.
Kathy O’Reilly, Sachem
The point guard was nicknamed the "Kamikaze Kid" for her aggressive, all-out style of play. O'Reilly was named the state MVP when she led Sachem to the state title in 1982. She was also the MVP of Newsday’s New York City vs. Long Island Classic in 1982. She was a record-setter at Seton Hall, compiling 533 career assists, a mark that stood for 25 years. In 1985, she was named to the Big East All-Rookie team. She was inducted into the Seton Hall Hall of Fame in 2023.
Patty Reynolds of Valley Stream South. Credit: Newsday/Dan Goodrich
Patty Reynolds, Valley Stream South
The 5-8 guard was a three-time All-Long Island selection, including two first-team selections in 1985 and 1986. Reynolds scored 2,258 points as a four-year starter, making her the No. 8 scorer in Long Island history. She went to Iona and is the No. 2 scorer in Gaels’ history with 1,683 points in 110 career games. She was inducted into the Nassau County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.
Lisa Smith, Hempstead
The 1983 graduate of Hempstead High School dazzled opponents for four years, scoring what was then a state-record 2,418 points, and leading the Tigers to a 92-3 record with four Nassau titles, two state championships and a Federation title in 1982. Hempstead won 52 straight games during one stretch of Smith's career. She had an outstanding career at St. John’s. She was inducted into the Nassau County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.
Marlane Ward, Wyandanch
The 5-10 center averaged 25 points and 23 rebounds in her senior year. Ward was a three-time All-Long Island pick, including two first-team selections. She scored 1,604 career points at Wyandanch, and played at Norfolk State.
Sue Wicks with the Liberty in 1999. Credit: Associated Press/ADAM M. BETTCHER
Sue Wicks, Center Moriches
Unequivocally, the player of the 1980s. She averaged 39.9 points as a senior and was selected to Newsday’s first- All-Long Island team. The 6-3 Wicks totaled 1,688 career points in her high school career and went on to play at Rutgers, becoming the most decorated player in school history. Wicks was a three-time Kodak All-American and 1988 Naismith and U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year. She still owns the Rutgers career records for points, rebounds and scoring average. She is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She spent more than 15 years playing professionally overseas. When the WNBA was formed in 1997, she was the first-round selection of her hometown Liberty, playing six seasons before her retirement in 2003.
COACHES OF THE DECADE
Warren Fuller, Wyandanch
He won four Long Island championships and five Suffolk titles in the 1980s. Wyandanch was 27-0 in 1983, part of a Suffolk-record 51-game winning streak. They were 24-1 in 1984 and lost in the state Class C final. They were 29-1 in 1987 and earned the school’s third public school state title and the state Class C Federation crown. In 1988, they were 27-1 and lost in the Class C state final. He coached for 33 years and captured 13 Long Island titles with a career record of 579-172.
Warren Fuller of Wyandanch and Ollie Mills of Hempstead.
Ollie Mills, Hempstead
He coached Hempstead for seven years but in that time had a profound impact on the program. He accumulated a remarkable 140-9 record. But that’s not the most impressive thing he did. From 1979-83, his teams had a record of 92-3, won four Nassau and Long Island titles, won a state public school championship and a state federation crown. Along the way, they won 71 straight home games and never lost a game to a Nassau County team over a four-year period.
