JV sophomore Francesa Sorrentino was the primary of two gamers this season from Fontbonne to win the 2026 CHSAA Division A Sportsmanship of the Yr Award. The opposite Fontbonne participant was senior Lucy Kuhlmann, who capped off her season by successful the identical award for the Varsity Division, together with being named to Division A’s First Crew.
In accordance with Fontbonne JV coach Bob Atanasio, Sorrentino embraced his basketball mantra of “Subsequent play, preserve it shifting” as the important thing to her success this yr. After being chosen to begin the season as one of many group’s co-captains, Sorrentino led as a task mannequin together with her stable protection on the small ahead place and was the group’s excessive scorer with 154 factors.
Noting her enchancment from the start of the season, Atanasio stated, “She was very coachable and helped the opposite women on the group.” Explaining his “preserve it shifting” mentality, Atanasio stated that basketball is such a fast recreation that there isn’t any time for a participant to wallow of their errors as a substitute of getting again into place for the following play. “Regardless of our solely 4 wins this season, Fran’s play saved the movement of our recreation going with that mentality,” stated Atanasio.
As for Sorrentino, the announcement that she had received the popularity of the opposite coaches within the division got here as a complete shock. “I used to be actually shocked and grateful to win this award,” stated Sorrentino, who will likely be welcomed subsequent season to the varsity squad as a junior.
