Basketball's 1000 Point Club

With the excitement of March Madness basketball and the successful seasons enjoyed by EPHS girls and boys basketball as well as Bay View Academy, the Reporter reached out to some high scoring basketball heroes of Ep's past. We found Lisa Ercolano in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she is now a noted surgeon.

BayView Graduate Lisa Ercolano, 1998, has scored the most hoop points in the long history of BayView basketball. Ercolano reached a total of 1244 total points scored in the prestigious all-girls school on Pawtucket Avenue. The Reporter reached out and found the former Bengal athlete in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she is now a well-regarded surgeon. Dr. Ercolano is an oncology orthopedic surgeon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Western Pennsylvania Hospital.

"I have great, yet vague memories of the night when I reached the 1000th point in my basketball career at Bay View," said Dr. Ercolano. "My memories are great when I look at pictures from that night and the signed basketball that I have from back then. I do remember being more concerned with winning games as a team, rather than an individual award," added Ercolano. "At the time we had a good run through state playoffs. We were top of our division and had a pretty good team. I remember that we won a couple of games in the playoffs but didn't win the state championship that year. It was a great time with great teammates."

Dr. Ercolano, who lived in Providence while at Bay View, hasn't lived in Rhode Island since she graduated from Bay View. She received her medical degree from University of California Davis School of Medicine and has been in practice between 6-10 years. She is one of 30 at Western Pennsylvania Hospital who specialize in Orthopedic Surgery. “We are very happy to welcome Dr. Ercolano to our orthopedic and oncology teams at Allegheny Health Network,” said Patrick DeMeo, MD, Chair, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Allegheny Health Network. “Her exceptional skills as a surgeon and unique expertise provide us with a critical new resource for patients in the region who are diagnosed with bone tumors and other complicated orthopedic developmental disorders.” She received her fellowship training in orthopedic oncology at the Harvard Combined/Massachusetts General Hospital.

"Without question, I believe that youth sports and school sports is very important. It may sound cliché but sports can teach one how to work with one another," said Ercolano. "It's also not a bad thing to be competitive and to want to win. Sports involvement can teach one about prioritizing time and it just helps to put things together," she added. "I enjoy getting back to the school and seeing the new gym. I remember the old smaller gym without a three-point line. It's nice to see that sports is growing. I do keep up with some high school friends," said Ercolano. "I also am proud that my father was a basketball coach at Bay View. He didn't coach me, as I had graduated by then, but he did win some championships for the school. That's pretty special I think."

Other Bay View members of the 1,000 point club are: Kerri Augenstein, 1202 pts., Deirdre Fuller, 1123 pts. and Meredith McGair, 1049 pts.