Jenna O’Connor never knew Corinne Feller, who would have been the Valley Central High School sophomore’s aunt.

But family members say she reminds them of her.
“That’s the best compliment in the world,” O’Connor said. “They said she was a student-athlete, the nicest person, a beautiful soul and just brightened everyone’s day.”

O’Connor scored 14 points on Thursday night as the Vikings defeated the John S. Burke Catholic Eagles, 45-22, in the consolation game to finish third in the 23rd annual Corinne Feller Memorial Tip-Off tournament at Valley Central High School in Montgomery.

O’Connor was named as the Vikings’ representative to the all-tournament team. She also scored nine points in the Vikings’ 53-38 loss to the Middletown Middies two nights earlier.

“This means so much to me,” O’Connor said. “First of all, it was a big tournament and we worked really hard for it. But also, this tournament is in memory of my aunt, who I love very much, and it just means the world to me to represent my family for her.”

Feller died of ovarian cancer at the age of 18 in 1999, and her number (11) was retired on Dec. 3, 2004. She scored 533 points, had 227 assists, 213 steals and 179 rebounds for the Vikings.

“Jenna is just full of energy,” Valley Central coach Bill Michella said. “She’s a terrific leader and is a smart player. She is what you call a gamer. She practices hard, but in the game, she just brings it all the time.”

The Vikings’ Gisselle Johnson added 11 points for the Vikings.

“As far as Burke goes, they came out really hard in the first half, and they played us very well,” Michella said. “They gave our girls a little bit of difficulty. We took only a seven-point lead at halftime, but I give a lot of credit to Burke, and a lot of credit to our girls coming out in the second half and really putting it together.”

The Vikings came out clicking on offense, and played shutdown the defense, shutting out the Eagles while scoring 19 points of their own to take a 41-15 lead into the fourth quarter.

“They just changed their demeanor on the court,” Michella said. “They came out at halftime, and we talked about it, that they really needed to step it up, and they did.”

The Middletown Middies went on to win the tournament with a 43-39 win over the Marlboro Dukes in the championship game.

Middletown eighth grader Ashley MacCalla was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for the second straight year, and her older sister, Sydney MacCalla was named to the all-tournament team.
Marlboro’s Gabby Murphy and Hannah Polumbo and Burke Catholic’s Rose Conlon was named to the all-tournament team.

“(This tournament) means so much,” O’Connor said. “The girls all get excited for it every year, and they put so much work into it. My grandpa, Ron Feller (Corinne’s father) doe so much work, and coach Michella has helped us out a ton, and it starts off our season. It just boosts our confidence and gets us playing some teams and starting up early.”