Girls Basketball | Varsity girls show great improvement
The JV and varsity Indians gave a strong showing against Stony Brook on January 5, even though only one of those games ended in a Shelter Island victory.
VARSITY SPEEDS UP, BURNS OUT
“They gave me everything they had, and as a coach, you can never ask for more than everything they have,” Coach Peter Miedema said of the varsity Indians performance against Stony Brook.
The Indians started off strong, with Kelsey McGayhey scoring three quick baskets early on. The girls kept pace with Stony Brook in the first half, which has been a difficult team for Shelter Island to beat in the past. With 2 free throws from Megan Mundy and a strong defensive effort, the Indians held pace with their visiting opponents and finished the first quarter 8-8.
A basket from Mackenzie Needham and 2 free throws from McGayhey and Mundy each in the second quarter kept the girls in the running and the half ended 15-12, Stony Brook. The low score reflects a strong defensive effort on both sides, and the Indians played with more hustle than usual, Coach Miedema said.
After taping their practice prior to the game, he explained, “we realized how slow our game was.” He said the girls’ priority since then has been to “sprint to everything” whether that be an offensive set or a loose ball.
The girls took that directive to heart during the Stony Brook game and it paid off. The players got plenty of open looks at the basket and their game all around was a clear improvement from the start of the season, Miedema said.
But by the end of the third quarter, “I saw the energy just get wiped right out of them,” Coach Miedema said. The Indians started giving up easy layups and their plays began to fall apart. Stony Brook scored 26 points in the second half while the Indians scored just 11. The final score was 41-23, Stony Brook.
“Normally we can barely keep it within 40 points with Stony Brook so I was very impressed with the effort, especially defensively,” Coach Miedema said. “I was extremely proud of the girls tonight.”
The score of Tuesday’s varsity game against Stony Brook wasn’t available by the time the Reporter went to press. Their next game is today at McGann-Mercy at 6:15 p.
JUNIOR VARSITY CRUSHES BEARS
The junior varsity Indians were unstoppable from the start in their January 5 game against Stony Brook. After Morgan McCarthy sank a basket 15 seconds into the game, the Indians’ press and their overall strong defensive pressure yielded 9 consecutive steals, many of them in Stony Brook’s territory and most of them resulting in Shelter Island baskets.
Only 3 minutes and 15 seconds after the tip off, Melissa Ames had racked up 5 steals, Breanna Hallman had 3 and Saverina Chicka got 1 and the score was 12-0, Indians. A few steals and baskets later, JV Coach Brian Doelger explained, “We called off the press.”
The girls continued playing a strong game, and with buckets from sisters Corrine and Keri Ann Mahoney, as well as a couple of steals and a free throw from Abbie Ross-Gates, the girls ended the first quarter with a 21-1 lead.
The girls kept the pressure going in the second quarter and once Ross-Gates sent a bounce pass through traffic to Jill Calabro, who sent it through the hoop at 3:43, every player on the team had scored at least one basket. By the end of the half, the score was 29-1, Indians.
Coach Doelger “called the dogs off” in the second half, he said, to give their opponents room to stretch their legs. “We just tried to work on all our different plays” and focus on executing every play correctly, he said. The Indians had earned a comfortable 32-9 victory by the final buzzer.
The JV Indians are now 2-0 in their league. “If this is one of the stronger teams, we should be very competitive in the league,” said Coach Doelger.
The score of Tuesday’s JV game against the joint Southold-Greenport team wasn’t available by the time the Reporter went to press. Their next game is today at McGann-Mercy at 4:30 p.m.
