Thornton-Donovan’s boys basketball team may not have come away with a win on Jan. 14, but even a quick glance at the state of the Lions’ athletic program confirms that huge strides are being made. In just three years of varsity competition, the gains are evident at the New Rochelle-based private school, both on and off the court.
Taking on the New Jersey Home School Association at Anshe Shalom Synagogue,, the Lions held a lead at their New Rochelle home gym heading into the half, but faltered down the stretch, dropping the contest 43-35 after losing point guard Chris Miles to foul trouble.
Even in the loss, however, head coach Steve Schlitten—who doubles as the athletic director and director of admissions for the K-12 school—said the game was simply part of the learning process.
“[Miles] was playing a tremendous amount of defense and fouled out, and you run into the case where you have four guys on the court without that one playmaker to set them up,” he said. “But as a young team, with eighth- and ninth-graders, that’s something we’re working on, to not be so reliant on one guy.”
But growing pains are simply viewed as challenges at Thornton-Donovan, which, until three years ago, only offered intramural sports. Since then, however, strong support for the student body has helped the Lions expand its athletic program to seven teams, including soccer, boys and girls basketball, volleyball, tennis and cross-country.
Thornton-Donovan participates in the Westchester Independent Athletic Association with other schools that fall beyond the purview of Section I athletics.
John Ventresca, who has attended Thornton-Donovan since kindergarten, said that the growth of the athletic department has been well-received.
“Growing up, I played football and basketball for Eastchester through middle school,” the senior said. “So to finally have sports here, that has been terrific.”
Miles, Ventresca’s teammate, said that the varsity programs have helped break down barriers between Thornton-Donovan’s students and helped promote a true sense of community.
“Before this, we just had intramurals and we didn’t have a lot of people come watch us play,” Miles said. “But people are excited and I think it has developed more school spirit.”
With roughly 200 students enrolled, many of whom have international backgrounds, Schlitten said that watching the student body come together has been rewarding.
“It’s a diverse school and that’s something we’re proud of here,” he said. “And what we have is a lot of people coming together to find something to be passionate about.”
With the sports program progressing, Schlitten said the school is entertaining the idea of expanding it even further.
“Seeing as we have so many international students, it’s not a surprise that soccer has kind of been our bread and butter,” he said. “But we’ve had some interest in maybe starting rugby as well.
“[Rugby] is starting to grow with Americans, and I think a lot of our students are looking for something new.”
