January Athlete of the Month: Tori Criscuolo

Name: Tori Criscuolo

Sport: Basketball

Grade: Junior 

Position: Forward

Recent team results: Lost to Immaculate Heart Academy 42-32 on Sunday

Tori Criscuolo is a great athlete and teammate to everyone around her. This is shown in the way she describes what she enjoys about the game of basketball. 

“There’s a lot of different aspects I like about it,” Criscuolo said. “Probably the [thing] I like most about it is how much of a team sport it is.” 

Criscuolo is constantly looking to improve individually, while also trying to look out for what’s best for the team. She says that one of the things she enjoys about playing with this group is that they are always able to talk openly about what they can improve.

“We always have talks before and after the game about what to do moving forward,” Criscuolo said. “I have been a part of those talks while playing alongside this group [for] the last three years.” 

She loves the atmosphere here at Pascack Valley, especially playing with this group of girls and under Coach Jeff Jasper. What Criscuolo appreciates the most about what Coach Jasper does for her is that he is always straightforward. 

“He expects a lot out of you,” Tori said. “And he wants you to do better. He will make that clear while also helping you along the way.”

She speaks very highly of him as her coach, much thanks to this being Coach Jasper’s 49th year as coach for the Valley girls’ basketball team. The two have a fabulous relationship, as they both have nothing but good things to say about one another.

Criscuolo is averaging about 10 points per game, but her impact stretches to more than just scoring the ball. 

“Her value is way more than whatever shows up in the stat sheet,” Jasper said. “As a coach, you’d love to have a whole team of Toris. She’s got a great personality, she’s got charisma, she’s highly-respected, and she knows her role [on the court].”

Aside from her abilities on the basketball court, she also excels at other sports. She had a key role in the girls’ soccer team’s run to the state sectional final, playing center back almost the entire season.

Criscuolo said that having a close relationship with all her different coaches allowed her to succeed in both soccer and basketball. She plans to replicate the same success that she had earlier this year on the soccer team with basketball.

“I need to keep putting in the same amount of work that I did during soccer season,” Criscuolo said. “Along with pushing the team and continuing to improve every game.” 

Criscuolo missed having fans in the building during their games. She said that the atmosphere was very different from her freshman year, before COVID. 

Criscuolo is definitely happy that fans are back in the building now, and that the team will be able to play without COVID restrictions. 

When asked about her future plans as far as continuing basketball after high school, she said that she doubts that she will pursue it and that she will be focusing on her academics.