There are some things from OLS basketball games that you just don’t forget. The tightly packed gym. The electricity in the air. And in the 1982 season especially, the cheerleaders on the sidelines chanting “Be Aggressive, B-E Aggressive. B-E-AGG-RESS-IVE, BE AGRESSIVE!”
Cathy Sullivan, Christine Casey, and Michele Marano were among the girls on the sidelines during the 1982 season, cheering for the team that would finish with an extraordinary record of 31 and 4. And their memories of that year are still vivid to this day.
“The team that year was unstoppable,” remembers Cathy. “I was completely caught up in it. There was nowhere else I’d rather be. I was always like, What time do we need to be there? Okay, I’ll be there an hour early.” Michele agrees: “The team was amazing with so many star players. And one of the highlights of being a cheerleader was being assigned a player to cheer for. Mine was Bret Bange — and he and I are still friends to this day.”
In addition to Brett, the roster included Steve “Duke” DeLuca, Steve “Hicks” Hillebrecht, Ed Byrne, Frank Bensel, Jamie “Gia” Giangrande, and Rob Sullivan — the group were just in sync that year under Coach Rich Hillebrechit (Steve’s older brother), playing so well together that wins kept following wins.
Christine remembers Ed Byrne’s signature move. “Ed would always get in everybody’s faces, he’d be bouncing up and down and yelling to try to distract the players on the other team. People laughed at it at first, and then it became his thing. I vividly remember him doing that.”
The OLS gym was the place to be on weekends. Standing room only, parents and kids everywhere you looked. “The OLS gym doesn’t have a lot of room on the sidelines,” Cathy recalls. “People could only sit on one side of the court or on the stage. But people would just pack in. And then I remember at halftime, all the parents would go out into the lobby and smoke.” Those were the days!
Beyond the games, the cheerleading competitions were an experience unto themselves. “Cheer competitions were a highlight,” says Michele. “We worked hard, but we had 
fun too.” They practiced hard under the watchful eye of their coach — 7th grade teacher Miss Sinatra — drilling routines until they had them down cold.
Back then, Sacred Heart in Hartsdale, who hosted the competition, always seemed to win at least one of the trophies. But that year, OLS finished first place, and it brought Cathy to tears. “I was so sentimental and emotional. I couldn’t believe I had won a trophy!”
But the real reward came after the competiation was over and the crowd vacated Sacred Heart. Heading back towards White Plains, you couldn’t help but pass by McDonald’s on Central Avenue. So every year, win or lose, the cheer squad would stop off there. “We would perform our routines for the workers, who seemed amused and supportive,” remembers Michele. “I remember being there at McDonald’s still in our uniforms!” laughs Chrstine.
And the basketball players from the ’82 team were there at the competition — and at McDonald’s afterwards — to cheer them on, the same as the girls had been there to support them all season long.
It’s that kind of memory — so small and silly in retrospect, but so poignant and irreplaceable — that captures what those years were really about. “The games, the friendships, and all the traditions,” says Michele. “These are things I will always treasure.”
