The favorite number in the Corridoni household seems to be 21. The family’s favorite color? Shiny gold.
When Meghan Corridoni, a senior on the Holy Redeemer girls basketball team, helped the Royals win their first Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 2 Class AA championship in five years, she still fell short of what her mother did at Seton Catholic.
Meghan was born in a basketball family. The history books don’t lie.
Meghan’s mom, Nicole (Kovaleski) Corridoni, originally from Exeter, won three straight District 2 Class A championships in the late 1980s at Seton Catholic. Meghan’s father, Joe Corridoni, originally from Pittston Township, was part of the 1987 Seton Catholic boys team that won a district title. All three wore No. 21.
It just runs in the Exeter family, they all agreed.
“I know my mom has three, but I made it further in states,” Meghan laughed.
Over the course of Meghan’s career, the 6-foot-1 forward developed into a force for Holy Redeemer. Heading into her senior season, Meghan averaged around six points per contest. In her senior year, she’s been one of the Royals’ leaders both on and off the court.
This past playoff run was aided by Meghan’s 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Royals avenge an early-season loss to Holy Cross in the District 2 Class AA title game. She scored consecutive baskets to gave Redeemer a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 52-47 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Meghan said of the win. “This was the only year that we got to do it and, as seniors, it was so special.”
Holy Redeemer most recently lost to Neumann-Goretti, 48-39, in the PIAA Class AA semifinals on Friday, March 11. Meghan, along with fellow seniors Lydia Lawson, Rebecca Prociak, Kayla Hons and Sara Flannelly, finished their careers with 95 overall wins and a total of 20 playoff wins.
The loss was a tough one for Meghan, but she’s now looking forward to continuing her basketball career at Bloomsburg University.
“We worked so hard, especially over the entire four years,” Meghan said. “For us to do this our senior year it was amazing.”
Meghan almost doubled her career scoring average this season. Last year, Meghan was the catalyst in Redeemer’s state playoff run. She scored 14 points in a PIAA second-round victory over North Schuylkill, then scored 16 of Redeemer’s 39 points in a 2015 state quarterfinal win over St. Basil Academy.
She did all of this while two district champs were cheering her on from the stands.
The late 1980s were good to the Corridoni family. In 1987, the Seton girls were two-time defending district championships under coach Margie Pace. The boys were looking for their first district championship led by coach Mike Hopkins. Joe and Nicole just started dating. They went to prom together and have been side by side ever since.
The Seton girls went on to beat Old Forge, 62-50, to earn their third consecutive district title. In that game, Nicole teamed up with Meghan Tigue to combine for 43 points. Nicole led the way with 23 points for the district champs. She said it was difficult to watch her daughter compete for a title as a parent.
“It’s a different role,” Nicole said. “It was such a team effort to watch them and just see their successes every year. This year was the culmination of their work.”
For Joe and the boys, a battle with Old Forge also loomed. Joe came off the bench in the fourth quarter to give Seton a spark and an eventual 47-41 win. After the game, coach Mike Hopkins said, “I can’t say enough about the way Joe Corridoni played coming off the bench.”
“That was really neat for us,” Joe said. “That was the first time we got it. We one another game after that but it is a great memory.”
The whole time, Joe and Nicole were wearing No. 21.
Watching their youngest child reach District 2 supremacy was a little more nerve-wracking than doing it themselves. This year, Meghan got to do it at Mohegan Sun Arena. Joe won his title at the Scranton CYC, while Nicole’s senior district gold was won at Wyoming Area.
“I was jealous of her (for playing at the arena),” Joe said. “I really enjoy watching the girls play. The hardest thing for me was trying to let the coach be the coach and only give advice to my daughter.”
Meghan’s older brother, Joseph, is currently a sophomore at Bloomsburg University and she said she’s looking forward to getting her collegiate career started. She’s also an avid golfer, competing on Holy Redeemer’s golf team for the past four seasons.
