All hail the Pelham Memorial High School girls varsity basketball team, which finished the 2025-2026 season with a 17-5 record, and is headed toward the county’s Section 1 playoffs with momentum. Over the last two years, the team has made it to the final four at the County Center in White Plains, and according to coach Timothy Pitrulle, this year’s team has the potential to go just as deep into the playoffs.
“The keys to our success and strengths have been the girls’ basketball acumen, their effort, and their treating [of] this team as an extended family,” said Pitrulle. “Our goals are to enjoy each other’s company, grow as people and as a team, and as an end-goal to win the sectional championship.”
Given its recent success and the pipeline of young talent in the program, the squad’s long-term ambition is to make it to the County Center for years to come.
The team ethic runs deep with the players. In conversations with the Pelham Examiner, none of the players wanted to be identified by name out of concern that they would be drawing attention to themselves individually. Instead, they talked about the team as a whole and described the mindset as energetic, enthusiastic and tenacious.
That tenacity came to the fore in the second half of the season. Following a loss to Tappan Zee in late January, the girls bounced back with several wins, including a decisive victory over Roy C Ketcham High School in early February.
The next test was a road game at Ursuline on February 5. The Koalas led Pelham throughout the first half and built a 39-26 lead, but they couldn’t put the visitors away. The Pelicans went on a second-half scoring spree, paced by Emma Namba and Colleen Sheehy, while strong defensive play by Brooke Green, Arden Keough and others allowed Pelham to emerge with a hard-fought 65-61 win.
The team boasts great depth and all-around talent. There’s not just one big player under the net focused on rebounds, or only two guards who can hit outside jumpers and drive to the basket. Over the course of the season the squad has merged into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. The team’s unofficial motto has been, “What do you want?”
“All of our wildest goals and dreams are attainable,” said Petrulle. “What is the team willing to do to get there? What are they willing to sacrifice? Can they put ego aside and contribute in any way that the team needs them to?” Based on the team’s impressive regular season, it’s clear that the girls have responded to the coach’s emphasis on teamwork over ego. “That’s from player No. 1 to No. 16,” he said.
The coach closed the interview with a call to the town of Pelham to come out and support this amazing group. The Pelicans’ first playoff game will be at home on Tuesday, February 24 at 5 PM. If they win, the girls will move on to the semi-finals at the County Center.
