Indians sunk by Mariners


Olivia Garrison charges past a defender.

Anyone who saw the Indians’ game last Monday against Southamptonmight not realize they were watching the same team that got blownout in its season opener just two weeks ago. Although they didn’twin this match, the junior high squad is certainly fulfilling CoachBrian Becker’s stated team goal for the season, improvement: “Eachweek they learn a little bit more, they’re thinking about thefundamentals a little bit more.

Though they’re still searching for their first win, they’rebeginning to find their stride. The girls carried the lead throughthe first two quarters to the delight of the small crowd ofspectators, who showed up to cheer the girls on in their first homegame. “It’s exciting to play with their families here, which Ithink helped a little bit, said Becker. “They played a lot bettertoday than they have in the past, especially in the first half.

The match started off slow. Aterahme Lawrence scored the onlypoints in the first quarter, driving to the net for 2 at 2:59 andthen sinking a shot from inside the paint 20 seconds later.

They began to chip away at the Southampton defense in the nextquarter. Repeated steals by Sam Capello translated into shotopportunities, and Brianna Rietvelt was controlling the boards, atone point getting two of her own rebounds in a row to eventuallyscore. The entire team is beginning to work better on the whole,said Coach Becker. “They’re moving the ball a lot better, there’rebetter passes, and they were dribbling getting the ball inside,which is real key.

And when the ball got loose, the girls weren’t afraid to hit thedeck and force repeated jump balls. “Our girls are very scrappy,said Coach Becker. “They’re now aggressively going for the ballinstead of watching.

But halfway through the third quarter, the team began to sufferfrom a common problem for Shelter Island: its lack of reserves.Southampton’s roster has almost twice as many players as theIndians’ 8-girl squad. “We’re small, we don’t have the bench, so weget tired and can’t sub, said Coach Becker.

The girls’ offensive momentum was the first victim to theirfatigue – their only point in the third quarter was Keri AnnMahoney’s free throw at 2:34. Then their defensive coverage startedto flag. “They started to not get back on defense, said CoachBecker. “There are some things they just can’t do when they’retired.

Shelter Island lost the lead at 2:34 when a Southampton playermade a fast break for the net, making it 14-13, Southampton. TheMariners kept it going, scoring another three layups and ending thequarter 20-13. They built on their momentum in the fourth quarter,adding another 14 points while the Indians only scored 6, makingthe final score 34-19, Southampton.

The girls still have a way to go this year until their coach issatisfied. “They’re still learning positions and theirresponsibilities. The biggest weakness that we have now is [not]being able to set a screen, said Becker. “Once that concept isadded offensively I think it will open up the game quite a bit.

Despite the loss, they can still walk away from this match witha lesson: “They saw that when we do play more aggressively, when wedo key in on the fundamentals, we can play a lot better than wehave in the past.

The outcome of yesterday’s game against Pierson/Bridgehamptonwasn’t available by the time the Reporter went to press. Their nextgame is at home against East Hampton at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow.