Indians fight hard, fall to Stony Brook 


Katie Siller tries to connect with Stephanie Vecchio (20). After a strong first half performance, Shelter Island had trouble completing their passes.


As varsity Coach Peter Miedema or junior varsity Coach WillCollins can tell you, sometimes scoreboards lie. Or, at least, theydon’t tell the whole story.

With less than half their opponents’ final score, it looked likethe varsity Indians were steamrolled in last Friday’s 61-28 loss.But their early performance showed a different game, as they keptundefeated Stony Brook to just a 7-point lead in the firsthalf.

And though the JV girls won their match-up against the Bears,their post-game huddle was no celebration.

VARSITY STARTS STRONG

The girls looked good right from the tip off, and worked hardfor each basket – many of their possessions were long and requiredmultiple passes to get the ball around the Bears defenders and tothe hoop.

The Indians got their first point when Mackenzie Needham sent ano-look pass to Kelsey McGayhey, who sent it to the basket. Shemissed, but Katie Siller boxed out under the net and got therebound. She ripped the ball out to Needham at the point, whocharged to the net and hooked the ball around a defender for abeautiful layup.

With no score on the next Bears’ possession, the Indians got theball back and Needham threw a chest pass to Siller in the corner,who immediately sent it to Emily Gibbs under the net. Stony Brookfouled, and Gibbs sank both of her free throws – nothing but net,4-2 Indians.

After Stony Brook’s Brannon Burke hit a jump shot for 2, Needhamstole a Bears pass at half court and drove in for a quick layup andcheers from the crowd.

On their next possession, Needham tried to pass the ball toGibbs but defenders tipped the pass. Gibbs dove on the loose balland threw it from the floor to Siller underneath the net, whoworked around a defender and sank a layup – 8-4 SI. Siller wasfouled at 1:14 in the next Indians’ possession, and sank one of herfree throws.

They ended the quarter 9-9, and remained scoreless until Needhamsank a free throw four minutes into the second quarter. Thoughtheir scoring was low, their defense kept them competitive – animpressive feat against Stony Brook, a team known for strongshooting and high-scoring games.

“In the first half, our defense was solid, said Coach Miedema.They used a 3-2 zone defense, a focus of recent practices. Itforced the Bears to take shots from the outside.

Still, the Indians couldn’t keep up their scoring pace with theBears’, and the second quarter ended 27-20, Stony Brook.

“¹”We could stay in this game if they don’thit those 3’s,’ Coach Miedema recalled telling JV Coach Collins.”Then Stony Brook hit two right away in the third quarter. I smiledand said, ¹”Here it comes.’

The girls’ game began to deteriorate in the third quarter andStony Brook started to rack up the points. With the Bears’fast-paced offense and few girls on the Indians bench tore-energize the squad, “you constantly have to push, so it wears onyou, said Coach Miedema. “By the end of the game, we’re tired,we’re worn out.

Especially true when playing the deeper 11-girl Stony Brookteam. Sloppy passes yielded repeated steals and turnovers for theBears. It was clear that the girls had lost their steam­- they scored just 8 points in the second half.

Still, the game was “something to be proud of, said Miedema.”Everybody contributed somewhat today.

McGayhey scored a team-high 8 points and Siller was again astrong presence under the net. “Emily Gibbs was a little moreaggressive taking it to the basket, said Coach Miedema, adding”Stephanie Vecchio played an important role on defense. He was alsohappy to bring up Megan Mundy from the JV, who he said is “going tobe a good varsity player next year.

“It could be a little bit of a turning point for the varsitygirls, Coach Miedema said of the Stony Brook game. “I know it’s alittle late in the season to say a turning point, but I felt a lotof energy out there, a lot of positive vibes and a lot ofhustle.

Though it is too late for the 3-7 team to have thoughts of aplayoff game, their strong first-half performance Friday showedwhat the girls are capable of. And with only two girls (Gibbs andSiller) graduating this year, the future looks promising for nextyear’s team.

JV PLAYS BELOW PAR BUT WINS

Even though the JV girls beat Stony Brook 21-13, their gamewasn’t an ideal performance. “By their own admission, they didn’tplay their best tonight, said Coach Collins.

Sloppy passing allowed both teams to make repeated steals, andthe game’s low final score seemed to be mainly a product of adisjointed offense.

Still, said Coach Collins, the girls are becoming more aware ofgame dynamics: “they’re starting to recognize situations inbasketball games ¦ like controlling the clock andfoul trouble.

He added that their defense is strong and they continue to playaggressively.

Their next game is against Southold today on the Indians’ homecourt. JV tips off at 4 p.m., varsity at 5:45 p.m.