Basketball teams fall to Ross School in home opener
It’s been a rough start to the 2021-22 winter sports season for the junior varsity and varsity basketball teams.
On Thursday, Dec. 9, the JV lost their game to the Ross School 47-16 and the varsity by a score of 53-11.
This was the home opener for both teams and was well attended by the Shelter Island community.
The JV team is composed of both boys and girls, due to the fact that there were insufficient numbers of both boys and girls to field separate teams.
The JV game, was highly competitive in the 1st quarter, with the Cosmos outscoring the Islanders 8-6. But Ross managed to go on a 15-4 run in the 2nd quarter, building a 23-10 halftime lead.
Things got worse in the 3rd period for the Islanders with Ross outscoring the home team by a score of 17-1. The Islanders came back in the 4th quarter as Kaitlyn Gulluscio hit a big 3-pointer and then delivered a perfect bounce pass to Jose Frausto for a layup.
Overall, the girls on the JV squad exhibited toughness on defense and were consistently holding their own on both the offensive and defensive boards. Jose Frausto led the team with 5 points and Sophie Clark, Madison Springer, Noah Green, and Kaitlyn Gulluscio contributed an additional 11 points.
The final score was Ross 47 and Shelter Island 16.
During the varsity game, both Ross and Shelter Island came out playing a 2-3 zone defense. Unfortunately, the Islanders fell behind early, trailing 12-0 with just 1:28 remaining in the 1st quarter. But Sebastian Romero, a 6’2” junior, hit a 3-pointer and put his team on the scoreboard.
The Islanders were outscored in a competitive 2nd quarter 10-5, with sophomore Hayden Davidson (2) and Bazzy Quigley-Dunning (3) scoring their team’s 5-points. The Cosmos enjoyed a 25-8 lead at the halftime intermission.
The Cosmos came out in the 3rd quarter and went on a 21-0 streak. The Islanders committed most of their turnovers during the 3rd quarter, mostly off additional defense pressure and steals of bad passes.
Once again, the 4th quarter was more competitive with Ross outscoring the home team by a 7-3 advantage. All three Islander points came from the foul line, with Hayden Davidson connecting on both ends of a 1 and 1, and Emmett Cummings converting on 1 of 2 free throws. The final score was 53-11 in favor of The Ross School.
There is no doubt that the JV coaches, Matt Dunning and Erin Mulrain, as well as varsity coach Zack Mundy, will need to exercise patience. Moving forward, the challenges of keeping players positive and motivated are essential in the rebuilding process.
On a very positive note, the cheerleaders, under the direction of Coach Michelle Corbett, did an exceptional job as they performed throughout both the JV and varsity games. They definitely got the home fans into the game. Cheerleading has been recognized as an interscholastic team sport by the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
