Anniversary talk: 2015 state basketball champs discuss title run

Noto, Niles help CSN set up discussions on two Sunday mornings in April

(The 2014-2015 Cooperstown girls basketball team reunited via Zoom on April 13, 2025. Photo by Greg Klein.)

As Cooperstown’s girls basketball team went on its run to the Final Four this season, Cooperstown Sports News reached out to Coach Mike Niles about setting up a 10th anniversary talk with his 2015 state championship team for Class C girls basketball. With the help of senior captain Christina Noto, Niles and eight of the nine varsity players reunited over two Sunday morning Zoom sessions.

What follows is an edited transcript of part of those conversations, April 6 and 13.

Question: Will you tell us what you want everybody to know about where you are and what you are doing?

Mike Niles: Same old, same old. Teaching gym, coaching hoops. Ethan moved back. He is working at NYCM. Meghan is in college at University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, so we go out there as much as we can. It’s very beautiful. Same old stuff.

Christina Noto (senior captain, starting small forward): It is so funny hearing you say Meghan is in college. I think maybe my junior year, she turned eight, and we all wore bows. To hear that she is an adult. I know that’s how aging works. It’s wild.

I’m living in Denver. I am getting a masters in urban and regional planning. I am doing a lot of part-time work right now. I am doing some research with a professor, and I have one more year left in my program.

Sarah Cook (junior backup center/forward): I am currently in (Greensboro) North Carolina and I am an adaptive curriculum special ed teacher. I am actually going to transition out of teaching after this year. Then I will be doing ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) full time. I have all my classwork, so I just have to get my hours to become a BCBA. I’m just living my best life here in the warmth.

Maria Noto (sophomore backup forward): I live in Brooklyn and I work in the city. I am a personal assistant to Ben Stiller. I also have recently started taking over his archives.

Liz Millea (junior captain, starting shooting guard): I live in Bridgeport, New York, which is northeast of Syracuse, like right below Oneida Lake. I ended up back in Syracuse, probably within a year of graduating, because I just liked the area so much. I currently work for a contracting firm for National Grid, but I am excited because I just got an offer from National Grid, which has been a huge goal of mine, so I will be starting in mid-May. I never thought I would get into power lines, but it is kind of how business school works, I think, going into it thinking one thing, and then you end up doing something completely different.

Mallory Arthurs (junior starting forward): I live in New York City. What I would want people to know the most is I play a lot of adult-league sports, including basketball still, but also kickball, softball is starting. I work at NBC now.

Jennifer Flynn (junior starting point guard): I recently moved back to Cooperstown, probably about a year or so ago. I am actually working at Bassett as a nurse in the emergency department. That’s fun. I got to see some of the girls games this year, which was fun.

Ciara McGoldrick (junior starting center): I am living in the city. I don’t do as many leagues as Mallory. I did one. I tried to do one basketball and I did one game.

Mallory Arthurs: It was a very expensive one game.

Ciara McGoldrick: $200 for one game of basketball. I haven’t tried that since. I work in clinical trials, nothing too exciting.

Maggie Schuermann (freshman backup guard): I am currently living in Utah. I have been kind of state hoping in the west. I was just living with Ciara’s sister in Montana for a while. I do corporate conference planning, which is fun, because it has me traveling all over the country seeing different cities.

(The state title run brought the Cooperstown girls honors, recognition, a day dedicated to them by the state, and lots of free food. Photo by Mike Perrino.)

Question: What are your initial memories about the state championship season?

Maria Noto: I remember being exhausted, but in a really fun way. It was the same basketball season, but it lasted an extra month or two, and softball was starting. And we were working really hard. I remember thinking, I can’t believe this is still going, and the excitement that kept you going was the chance to get to the state tournament.

Then I remember all the really great food we were having. I was, I think, 16 when we went. It was my first time having Cheesecake Factory, and I was really enjoying myself.

Mike Niles: I remember that we lost to South Kortright. What a way to start it, Coach! Then the idea that we were pretty good, and then all of sudden we were in Albany, and all of sudden, we were in the actual championship game. It was like a whirlwind.

I remember — like what Maria just said, how long the season seemed — I was coaching softball, and I remember sitting on the old bleachers, where you could pull the bottom one out. And I was just sitting there on the bleacher with my hood up over my head, just sitting there being exhausted. At that point softball was subordinate to keeping the basketball going. I remember it was so long. It was an extra five weeks, I think. Because the sectionals are always around Valentine’s Day and the state tournament is always around St. Patrick’s Day, and it really does get long. You are hanging by a thread, with the energy of the possibility of advancing.

Actually, the food really made a big impression this last year, too. We got Spurbeck’s and Mel’s and then Stagecoach, and then we went to Cheesecake Factory the day of the game again.

Sarah Cook: I was a junior at that point and it was a big deal for us to be practicing as late as we were and for us to be going all these places. Everyone was super excited. The energy we felt from the school and the community was incredible. It was an experience I will never forget. Staying at the hotel created a different bond for all of us girls. Seeing our families and seeing the whole community come out was a whole different atmosphere than we had ever truly experienced. Home games, you expect the families to come out, but to be in these bigger stadiums, and to see all these people that you know and that know you. All of them know you whether you know them or not. It was quite a cool experience for sure.

Maria Noto: We had the band. The high school band played. There was a different energy. Something about that felt so different in Cooperstown. I remember a Mom coming up to me and saying, “hey, my daughter wears her hair like yours to support the team.” I would wear one braid or two braids, I can’t even remember, and she would come match me. I didn’t even know her. It was so cute.

Christina Noto: I really remember how supportive our community is. Cooperstown is small. So, then, to see how supportive everybody is, from classmates, teachers, others coaches, to the community, I think is really powerful. Especially in our semifinal game, I think that is what I really remember. Even when we were losing by so much, how hyped the crowd was every time we scored at the end. I think that was really helpful.

The other thing is, this was my senior year, so a lot of memories of my senior year just coincide with this win. When you are a senior, you get to do all the fun things, like prom and stuff, things you don’t even really think about now. And then we got to go to Disney (for a spring break softball tournament).

I think also, we had some tournament at the beginning of the year, like maybe a Thanksgiving tournament, and we beat some A and B teams. Everybody was like, “oh, we’re really good,” and having that continue.

Mallory Arthurs: You know what really stands out to me? All that free chocolate milk they gave us. That was so good, and recently, I was thinking I don’t drink enough chocolate milk. Honestly, I felt like a legitimate professional athlete as they were just giving it out and making us take photos with it. That was great and that is something that I miss.

Jennifer Flynn: When I look back on it, it is so funny, because like when I went to the games this year, going to a good basketball game still gives me goosebumps. All I can think about was when we were in it, and I know how much that means to all the girls on the court. When I look back I think about all of us, and how close we were, and how much it meant to all of us.

Liz Millea: I think one of the biggest things I remember, was the fire trucks and the parade coming back into town. I absolutely love that it has stuck and become a thing now. Looking back, I feel so old, but it is so exciting to think back about how young we were and how much of a big deal that was.

Ciara McGoldrick: Looking back, I think about the free hotel, free Cheesecake Factory. I like to tell people, the only time I have had Cheesecake Factory is on the taxpayers’ dime.

Mallory Arthurs: I don’t know why all ours are food based. We eat outside of the free food rhelm. I feel like it was the first time everyone was like “here’s another free meal, here’s another free meal. We’re going to the Capitol, here’s another free meal.” It was great.

Ciara McGoldrick: Going to Albany, that was fun, too. We went to go see the Senate ... I liked that. The architecture in Albany, to this day, is something I think about.

Maggie Schuermann: I feel like I keep getting, you know when a photo comes across your phone, and it is your memories? I keep getting … Mallory and I hugging after every game. My phone seems to have an algorithm where it keeps showing me that every couple of months. That’s been cute to see.

Christina Noto: I remember after the firetrucks and we went to the Schuermanns’ house and we rewatched the game. And then we were cheering for each other. I just remember Maggie making that three and all of us freaking out cheering for her as if we were watching someone else play. That was a great memory, too.

Mallory Arthurs: This is not the state championship, but the season I will point to: I remember distinctly that we had to switch times with the boys, so the boys would get the better spot. I remember Christina getting so angry, saying “this does not make sense.” And I think they ended up switching us to a better spot because of you Christina and now I think they regularly switch. It is interesting, because women’s sports has come a long way in 10 years, and Christina, you were fighting the good fight a long time ago.

(When teams keyed on Liz Millea in the state playoffs, the rest of the team stepped up to make plays. Photo by Mike Perrino.)

Question: The biggest moment people remember is the semifinal comeback March 21 against defending Class C champion Chautauqua Lake, that ended with the 30 fourth-quarter points off the press. What do you remember about that game and the championship game against North Adirondack the next day?

Christina Noto: I remember going into halftime thinking we were going to lose. I remember thinking, “well, this is a great way to end my career.” ... I think it was that last three or four minutes that were really memorable. I remember Mr. Niles drawing up the play and then Maria scoring that three. Were you even support to have the ball, Maria?

Maria Noto: No. That wasn’t the play he was drawing. I think people were on Liz. I think people were really focusing on Liz. I wasn’t a three-point shooter for Cooperstown. I think it was a rare chance that I was actually out there, but I was open and she passed it. I remember being really scared, but something happened with the energy. I can’t exactly pinpoint, where it was, who it was, but it was contagious and it spread.

I also remember being interviewed afterward and it was so bad. I know that you guys probably haven’t seen it recently, but my roommates in the city have seen the video, and my friends from college, and they pull it up and they quote it to me because I sound ridiculous. I am clearly high on the wind and also exhausted and I am just talking about fast breaks. It is horrible. It is a funny video.

Christina Noto: There is a video of me, too, that I used to be so embarrassed by and now I play it, and I am like, this is really cute. You can see how excited I was.

Sarah Cook: I think my experience was very different. I wasn’t one of the key players. I came into the season knowing that. I came from Cherry Valley originally. It was just a different environment. Basketball was fun, but it wasn’t a key to life kind of deal. We didn’t have the (Clark) Sports Center. Sports were something that was fun. I was no Liz Millea. I was no Jen (Flynn). ... For me, I definitely experienced it from the sidelines, which was a different experience for sure.

I think, like Maria said, the teams that we played expected Jen and Liz. When people like Maria or Christina went out there, they were kind of taken aback by them. I think that was key to some of our successes, because they weren’t expecting Maria to shoot that three pointer. They weren’t expecting Christina to make a play that didn’t include Jen or Liz at that moment shooting. I think that is something we were really lucky to have in those moments.

For me, I can rally the team, I can give some positivity. I can do what I need to, but watching from the sidelines was hard. You have zero control and so you are just trying to encourage the team the best you can. I think watching those little moments, where it was Maria, it was Christina, it was someone off the bench, those were key moments. We all knew Jen and Liz were fantastic. We all knew they went to the gym all the time to practice, that they had Niles. I think it was something to surprise the other teams, like those are not our only good players. We have so many on the team. That was huge for the season, for sure.

Christina Noto: I really appreciate your honesty about your experience playing. I also think that, while you weren’t necessarily playing all the time, I do think being a player who stands up when other people score is really important. Also, I just remember you working so hard in practice. I think that does make a big difference. Thanks for your vulnerability.

Maria Noto: I remember we went to the state championship the year after and we lost in the semifinals. And some of the things that were coming up with the players, we didn’t have the glue, the leadership in the same way, with you Christina, and you Sarah. Genuinely, there was some sort of energy you all brought to the team that was irreplaceable, and that stitched everyone together and let us have a positive energy, which helped us win the championship first time around.

Mike Niles: I will say we run hash hash every day, and Sarah’s on the banner. Every time we introduce it to new kids, I say, “Sarah Cook made this drill up. She wanted us to practice something that looked like our sideline press break.” ... This year, if I was two minutes behind schedule getting to practice, they would already be in doing the hash hash drill to get started. So, even if Sarah was cheering people on from the sidelines, that drill is part of the DNA of our program now. That’s meaningful for me.

In terms of the game itself, the actual combination that we took the lead was two jump shots for Maria, a jump shot from Christina, a post move from Julie (Ford) and then Maria hit the three to put us ahead. So, you’re saying how much people would focus on Liz and Jen, the literal plays that were made in that comeback were by I guess you would say the supporting cast, but were not Liz and Jen, at that point. That is something that has stuck with me.

In both of those games, I don’t know why, but I was able to get in touch with Odessa-Montour’s coach, who hated Watkins Glen. And then I was able to get in touch with somebody, I don’t even know how I got this information, but I was able to get in touch with somebody who hated Chautauqua Lake and gave us a bunch of information. We saw in the lead up the way they ran their zone. I said to Mr. Noto at the time, “if they are going to leave the bubble unguarded like that, we are going to kill them.” And that is where Maria got two elbow jump shots and a three pointer, was in the bubble of their defense.

And the other thing was if and when they get pressed, their all-state center takes over the ball handling. That also came to fruition, which was amazing. This doesn’t make complete sense, but Liz stole a ball from the kid right in her basket, and she went to make a layup and the referee called her for a palm. ... Even when the guy called that silly, silly little dribbling thing, I thought, “they’re screwed. We got this. Start the bus.” Even though we were only up by one at that point. I was like, “we did it. We’re going to sleep at the hotel and come back and play tomorrow.” It was great.

Both of those games, honestly, they were playing a box and one and beating the heck out of Liz. And it was very close, (the regional final against) Watkins Glen and the Chautauqua game. At the same instance in both of those games, the other team went to straight zone and we went to our Liz and Jen press with Christina playing safety in the middle and our two bigs at the rim. And that ended up being the big moment in both games.

Maria Noto: I remember turning around after I made the shot, and I think Mr. Niles, you had your hands on the ground. You were like pounding the ground or something. That’s what I remember. It was a pretty powerful moment.

I think when I played later on in high school, maybe not so much my sophomore year, I was playing a big. When I tell people that now, they’re like, “you’re just 5-6, bro, why are you playing a big?” But we all had different roles that we had to fill. I think, especially with the bubble, because people saw me as a four, they didn’t know that as a kid and in middle school, I was trained as a point guard and a shooting guard. I think it ended up surprising people, because they thought, “oh, she’s just going to get the rebound.”

Christina Noto: I think there were a lot of bubble situations. As Sarah was saying, we were a deep team, so if ... there was a Frankfort game where I scored 20 points. I think it was because Jen and Liz and maybe Julie, too, were all being double teamed. I just kept getting the ball in the bubble.

Maria Noto: One other thing I remember is always being sick. Really, to the point of it being a joke with the team. “If Maria has a fever, we are looking good tonight.”

Mike Niles: I remember saying to your dad, “we just have to make sure Maria is a politely feverish, and then we’re usually in good shape at that point.”

The thing I remember about the (semifinal) is from when we were down nine to when we took the lead on them, Liz did not do any of that scoring. That is not a knock at all. That is a compliment to the kids that are also on the team. It was like Maria made two j’s and then Julie made a post move and then Christina hit a jump shot and then Maria hit the three pointer that we took the lead on.

One of the things that was awesome, the referee was standing next to me. He still calls me Mike. He still gets our games occasionally in the Syracuse area. But he called out Julie Ford’s move while she was doing it. He was like, “that’s a good catch. That’s a pivot, yep, we’ve got a fake and a drop step, NICE MOVE!” while it was happening live. That was really cool.

The Northern Adirondack game, we were down like 8-0, and they had a weird line up. Then Mallory and Maria switched over and guarded their leading scorer and they put her to sleep. We ended up winning a game that wasn’t close.

Mallory Arthurs: I also remember the feeling when we were down ... and then all of a sudden the energy completely switched. I remember feeling it in my chest, like, “oh, no, this is not going our way now.” I remember, I never thought we were going to lose, that’s not really (me). Take me to the last second, but when we were down, I was like, “something’s got to give. We have to switch it up.” All of a sudden a literal, palpable change happened in the arena. I think everyone felt it, the fans, us, obviously this ref. I distinctly remember going, “oh, yeah, this is going our way now.”

Maggie Schuermann: I feel like the energy in that whole room changed and it felt like there was literal energy in the air, fighting at everyone. No one was going to stop moving. Everyone was playing as hard as they possibly could. From that second on, we knew we were going to win that game.

Liz Millea: I think that was the best part of us being the underdog that year, we all felt we had nothing to lose. We were all on the same page. Like Mallory said, I didn’t think we were going to lose ever. The one thing I remember was Maria’s shot. When that went in, I think we all thought, “we’re winning this game.”

Mike Niles: That was amazing.

The other thing that was cool was outside of our hotel windows, I took a picture of the buses and I posted it. I don’t post anymore, but I posted it and I was like, “What’s the big deal with all these school buses? Every one of them was carrying a team that’s playing for a state championship tomorrow.” It was a cool moment on an island where only the teams that are playing for state championships are left, and it really made an impression on me.

Jennifer Flynn: We were down but you look around and see your teammates. I remember specifically looking at Liz, because we were both up top, and I could see how much she wanted it. I was like, “oh my God, what are you doing? Step up! This could be it for us and it is not fair for me to not be giving it my best, when Liz is giving 110%, when everyone else is giving 110%.”

I never thought we were going to lose, but I thought, “I am going to work as hard as I can the entire time for my team.”

As for the finals, it was a special moment. I feel like we all knew we were going to win, but no one wanted to say it. “Ok, I see the scoreboard. I hear the fans, but we are not going to jinx it,” because we were extremely superstitious. Probably concerning, actually, but just great memories.

Ciara McGoldrick: I just didn’t think we were going to lose. Probably because we really hadn’t lost all year. I just thought, “something will happen,” and it did.

My favorite part, the younger kids (the junior varsity players) got to go on in the end of the championship game. Fiona (McGoldrick) doesn’t shut up about it. She was offended she wasn’t invited to this. She said, “I was a state champion. I got to go out on that floor.” The whole experience was fun, but we did that for them, and it meant a lot.

Christina Noto: At halftime, I thought we were going to lose, and I was like, “well, this is my last game.”

Mallory Arthurs: Everybody else is like, “we never felt that we could lose,” and you were “bam, we’re losing.”

Christina Noto: Literally, I was like, “I’ll accept it,” and then Mallory you said something at halftime, and I was like, “wow, I really need to change my attitude.” But it wasn’t like I wasn’t trying. The fact was we were losing by 20 at halftime to the state championship team. It was going to be hard to come back.

I do think the energy shifted in the third quarter. I think a lot of it was the fans went off every time we made a great play, we made a basket, we stole the ball, they were just so, so excited. I think, too, I had a turnover in the fourth quarter before one of the girls fouled out, and the girl stole it, and it led to a Liz taking the charge. So, at first I was like, “Christina, you are not playing well,” and then I was like, “oh, that was so good of me to set that up.”

Mallory Arthurs: It was all part of the plan.

Christina Noto: I remember the point in the third quarter where the fans were going crazy, and I thought, “what are they cheering for, we’re losing by so much?” I know, I sound like a hater. Then I think the energy really changed, but at first I remember being confused.

Mike Niles: I didn’t realize we were down that much at half time. I do remember they had a couple of bigs, and in the first half, they did almost run us out of the building. It was not part of the scouting report that they ran that well, and I was like, “what do we do? What do we do?” I also remember that third quarter, the scoreboard did not change that much. I think we were down nine to start the quarter, but it took the eight minutes of the quarter to change the momentum. I also felt that change in energy. ... By the end of the third quarter, that was a home game.

(After winning a Class C girls basketball state title March 22, 2015, the team celebrated atop a fire-truck parade. Photo by Mike Perrino.)

Part two of Anniversary Talk will run later this spring.

Cooperstown Sports News is sponsored for the 2024-2025 school year by New York Susquehanna & Western Railway. To sponsor a team email Greg at JYDBook@gmail.com.