Pearl River High School Class of 1976
Lorraine Moylan applied the lessons she learned on the basketball court in a record-setting coaching career at Albertus Magnus and her alma mater, Pearl River. In her 30 years of coaching girls’ basketball, Lorraine won 21 league titles, 6 Section 1 championships, 5 Regional crowns, 2 New York State titles and 2 State Federation championships. She wound up with 536 career victories, a record for a Rockland basketball coach, boys or girls, and No. 2 all-time in Section 1 girls’ basketball behind Gina Maher of Irvington. Lorraine’s overall mark of 536 victories and only 140 losses works out to a stellar winning percentage of 79.3%.
Born in the Bronx, Lorraine moved to Pearl River when she was in the second grade. After she graduated from Pearl River High School in 1976, she earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Central Connecticut State University and a master’s degree in adaptive physical education from Long Island University. She played basketball throughout her elementary, high school and college careers.
Lorraine began her basketball coaching career as a JV coach at Spring Valley High School, followed by an assistant coaching stint at Mercy College in Westchester County. In 1983 she began her head coaching career at Albertus Magnus, where she led the Falcons to back-to-back New York State and Federation Class B championships in 1990-1991 and 1991-92. She returned to her alma mater in 1993 as a physical education teacher and varsity basketball coach. Lorraine retired as a coach after the 2012-13 season and continues to teach physical education.
“I have been blessed to have had so many excellent assistant coaches, and so many great players over the years,” says Lorraine, who also coached JV soccer and softball at both Pearl River and Albertus and JV softball at Spring Valley. “They have inspired me to always strive to excel in every aspect of my life. They have taught me that the journey together is what is truly most important, not the destination.”

As a young player Lorraine received guidance, fundamental training and support from the late Steve Baxter, her coach at St. Margaret’s in CYO ball, and her brother Jack Guerci – “he’s the one who developed my competitive spirit,” she says. Her coaching influences included her mentor at Central Connecti- cut, Brenda Reilly; Carol Schachner Leib, under whom Lorraine served as assistant coach at Mercy; and Tom Collins, the Hall of Fame former boys’ coach at Albertus Magnus who served as AD at both Albertus and Pearl River.

Lorraine coached many outstanding players during her three- decade tenure, but any listing of her top protégés would have to include, at Albertus: the Feeney sisters, Jen, MaryBeth and Kathleen; the Feerick sisters, Margaret and Pat; Kim Behrens, and Eileen King. At Pearl River, her premier performers included Betsy McManus, Kelly McManus, Kaitlin O’Keefe, Kait Page, Christa and Missy Scognamiglio, Kelly Mulligan and Nicole Grossbard.
When you’ve had much success as Lorraine has, it’s not easy singling out one or two games as the most memorable, but she rates the second state championship with Albertus as one of the top accomplishments in her personal highlight reel. In that game, the Falcons edged Queensbury on its home court in a down-to-the-wire thriller. Both of the Section 1 championships she won at Pearl River remain special, too, and “the icing on the cake” was reaching the State final four coaching her alma mater.

Lorraine, who is 55, resides in Park Ridge, N.J., with her husband, Jamie; daughter Annie, 24, a second-grade teacher in Fair Lawn, N.J., and son Bill, 22, who is pursuing a master’s degree in special education at Rowan University in New Jersey.

Lorraine pays tribute to all of her assistant coaches “for their tireless efforts and dedication to the programs,” especially Nancy Brezovsky, Kait Page, Tricia Flynn, Kathleen Finnegan and Brenda King. “I would also like to thank all of the former players for their blood, sweat and tears,” she says. “They are the reason I am receiving this honor.”