East Brunswick High School senior Dayna Sclafani, left, looks to get around South River High School defender Aleah Bass, middle, during the Middlesex College Girls Summer Basketball League playoff game in Edison on July 14. Sclafani will continue to play a key role for the Bears in 2014-15 as they look to make an impact in the Greater Middlesex Conference. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR I n most cases, high school athletes consider their parents to be the ones most responsible for supporting them throughout their careers. Not only have Dayna Sclafani’s father and mother, Tom and Debbie, been at the foundation of her success as a starting point guard for the East Brunswick High School girls basketball team, but they have been the very cornerstone of what will be a bright future following graduation.
Tom Sclafani has been involved in directing youth basketball for years. Last year, he teamed up with Team Miller Lightning, an AAU team headed by former Villanova University star Lance Miller. When Sclafani’s daughter became interested in the sport as a youngster, he naturally took her under his wing and helped teach her the finer points of basketball. He even spent 2012-13 as the East Brunswick coach, but that lasted only a year before Keith Lane took over this past season.
As for the support Dayna Sclafani received from her mother, it was more of the emotional variety. Debbie Sclafani was diagnosed with a tumor in her shoulder last summer and had to undergo chemotherapy.
“I think about what she went through, and it toughened me up about what I faced on the court,” Dayna Sclafani said.
What she faced was characteristic of most Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Red Division teams, and that’s a swarming and pressing defense, designed to force turnovers. Sclafani handled the ball with confidence, leading her team in assists with 85 off a variety of passes, and she returned the favor when she was on defense by stealing the ball 51 times. She was second on her team in scoring with 10.6 points per game.
“I was put at guard when I first started playing and went against boys. That’s because my father believed playing with boys would help me improve my passing, ball handling and mental toughness,” Sclafani said. “He was right.
“When I’m on the court, I’m thinking about who’s guarding me and how I’m being played,” she continued. “If a defender is on the ball, I look to pass or attack the hoop hard. If they’re off the ball, I look to take a mid-range jump shot.”
Sclafani’s family originates from Brooklyn, but they moved to East Brunswick before she entered grade school. She started playing soccer and basketball at age 4 and competed in both sports up until she entered high school. After her freshman year, she decided to focus on basketball.
“I realized I had more passion for basketball,” she said. “I think I was also motivated by the fact my older brother, Danny, played basketball for East Brunswick. I wanted to emulate him.”
In addition to what Sclafani learned about the sport from her father, she is thankful he helped steer her in the direction of playing for Team Miller Lightning under Miller and Orin Taylor.
“I’ve had the opportunity to play with some really great girls for the last three years,” she said. “We all have the same goal of playing college basketball, and even though we are friends, we push each other every day in practice as if we are opponents. That’s the same approach my coaches use at East Brunswick. Coach Lane, Coach [Travis] Retzlaff and the former junior varsity coach, Pam Amendola, work us hard to become better players.”
That effort paid off with the Bears experiencing a renaissance year, during which they finished 16-7, which included a semifinals berth in the GMC Tournament and qualifying for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV sectionals. Sclafani expects East Brunswick’s return to the upper echelon of the conference standings to continue.
“My personal goal is to make basketball history at East Brunswick, and that’s with my team,” she said. “Our goal next winter season is to make it to the RAC [at Rutgers University] for the GMC championship and win it. We also want to win the Red Division title.”
Sclafani also has plans following her high school career.
“I’d like to continue my basketball career in college, but I am not sure what school I will be attending yet,” she said. “I do know I’d like to be close to home so my parents can watch me play. I plan to major in physical education and minor in adaptive physical education.” Whenever Sclafani thinks about the challenge of playing basketball and maintaining good grades, she reflects on the difficulties her mother experienced overcoming her illness.
“If I’m on the court and I’d take a quick look and see my parents in the stands watching me, or if [I’m] at home late at night with homework to complete, I think of how much they have done to help me become the best I can be,” Sclafani said. “I can’t tell you how much it means to have their support. They have been pure inspiration and helped me overcome difficult situations, no matter what they were.”