JV girls rise to new heights
Alexis Gibbs puts one up against Port Jefferson defenders during a January 8 game. She scored 12 points against the Whalers on Tuesday.
GIRLS SCORE DOUBLE IN REMATCH
After losing to the Pierson/Bridgehampton Whalers by a large margin in their first game of the season, the Indians were given a second chance on January 19 to prove to their visiting opponents, the Shelter Island spectators and to themselves what they were capable of. And they did: “It was the best game of the season,” said JV Coach Will Collins with a smile.
Even with Captain Megan Mundy on the bench after an injury during the last game at McGann-Mercy, the squad pulled it together in their rematch with the Whalers, and after winning the tip-off the Indians raced into the lead.
The girls took advantage of repeated sloppy passes by the Whalers to force turnovers that turned into easy layups. The Indians started off with a few bad passes of their own in the first quarter, which ended with a 12-7 Shelter Island lead.
“It was a lot of running up the floor the first quarter, but we settled down,” said Coach Collins. They cleaned up their passing game and started playing much more aggressively, grabbing rebounds and making more attempts on the net.
The Indians began to pull away in the second quarter, ending the half with a 20-10 lead.
“It was our best effort, without a doubt,” said Coach Collins. “They did a good job of getting into position and playing aggressively, which is something I’ve been trying to get them to do all year.”
Katie Olinkiewicz was one of the team’s leading rebounders, even grabbing four of her own rebounds on the same possession a minute into the fourth quarter. She scored a team-high 12 points.
“Melissa [Ames] is probably one of the smallest girls on the court but she had 10 rebounds today,” said Coach Collins. She put 11 points on the board. Six minutes into the final quarter, Alexis Gibbs showed the Whalers just how aggressive the Indian defense can be when she slapped away a Pierson/Bridgehampton shot and the crowd went wild.
Even Megan Mundy showed her support from the bench and helped to rally the team. “To play with this kind of effort without her on the floor is huge,” said Coach Collins.
The Whalers couldn’t dampen the Indian’s pace and Shelter Island took the win, 40-20.
“It’s good to get a win against a team you lost to previously, that shows that you’re getting better,” Coach Collins went on. “And that’s all I want from the girls on the JV level: getting them prepared to play varsity basketball.”
The score of their game against Hampton Bays yesterday was not available by the time the Reporter went to press. Their next game is at Ross at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
VARSITY CAN’T FIND COHESION
The varsity girls had a much tougher time than the JV on Tuesday, and struggled the entire match to find their stride.
“The five that we have out there is just not the cohesive unit that we need from the starting five,” said Coach Peter Miedema, a problem he called the team’s Achilles heel. “That’s not to pinpoint any one player,” he added, noting that all the players “could be doing a better job somewhere.”
The girls often had trouble getting into their positions during plays, and “Help out!” or “set it up!” could occasionally be heard from the Shelter Island player with the ball. Coach Miedema mentioned that, this far into the season, the girls need to start thinking, “I’m going to get that loose ball, I’m going to make this shot, I’m going to make a good pass here,” instead of looking to someone else to take that initiative.
The result was a disjointed offensive effort mired by passes to players who weren’t looking, unnecessary turnovers and missed scoring opportunities. The Whalers took advantage, and held a steady lead through the course of the game even despite their own occasional sloppy passes. The Indians lost, 50-40.
Coach Miedema commented, “It’s the little things that don’t get noticed out there: the closing out, the trapping, the things that we focus on in practice that are just not coming to the game.”
Despite their problems as a group, the girls still hung on to put a respectable number of points on the board, even performing a couple of fabulous plays.
Early on in the second quarter, Stacey Clark set a beautiful pick that allowed McGayhey to score from the outside, making it 16-12, Whalers and proving that the girls could focus on the details. Trailing 26-18 in the third quarter, Mackenzie Needham dove out of bounds at 6:15 to save a loose ball and tossed it back to Katie Siller. Siller ripped a quick pass to McGayhey who sunk a perfect jump shot.
Clark gave a strong performance and tied with McGayhey for 11 points. “A lot of times her effort doesn’t show up in the score book,” said Coach Miedema. “She’s one of our toughest defenders.”
“Athletically the girls are very talented, and when they execute the way they should they look very clean and very polished,” mentioned Coach Miedema. “Other times it looks like a different team out there.”
The girls will try again in their next game at Ross, at 6 p.m. on Friday.
