Yonkers Montessori rallies in OT for 1st girls basketball state title

TROY - Arsela Mustafaj didn't know the detailed history, but she understood the reputation. Yonkers Montessori had just run up a lopsided win over Ardsley, and it didn't mean a whole lot tangibly. It was a non-league game at the beginning of January, one that would eventually seem almost insignificant on both teams' schedules as the season played out.

But it was a victory over a defending state champion. At the time, Mustafaj explained, that result held morale meaning because that team had accomplished something months earlier that few believed theirs could. It was a step toward changing the perception of the Eagles as "just another Yonkers team.

" Because, despite having eight high schools in a large district, Yonkers' athletic teams have mostly meandered. In fact, the city hadn't produced a state champion in this sport since the Yonkers High School boys basketball team won it all in 1932. So, in their desperate attempts to alter that perception, this team was pushing back against facts and opinions that had been molded and petrified for almost a century.

As the senior stood outside the Hudson Valley Community College gymnasium, grinning with a chipped tooth that she gladly would barter again for the plaque she clutched tightly, this was her "movie" moment. "This is the best feeling I've ever had and it's almost indescribable," Mustafaj said. "I've never felt this much joy in my life.