East Meadow nips Calhoun

Posted

East Meadow’s Emily Shurina had an eerie feeling when she stepped to the foul line with 26 seconds left and her team trailing visiting Calhoun by a point in last Friday’s Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball first-round playoff matchup.

“It felt like déjà vu,” she said. “We played them a few months ago in non-league and were down by the exact same score late in the game before we won it with free throws. I was just hoping to make at least one and tie it up.”

Shurina calmly sank both attempts and the Lady Jets, who shot 11 of 12 from the line, held on for a hard-fought 61-60 victory. Calhoun, which rallied from a 12-point deficit with 6:26 remaining, managed three shots in the final 14 seconds but couldn’t get any to drop.

“It all goes back to practice,” said Shurina, a junior who scored a game-high 30 points and went 7-for-7 from the line. “We take free throws after every drill.”

Freshman center Danielle Hippner added 15 points and six blocks for No. 8 East Meadow (12-8), which advanced to face three-time defending county champion Baldwin in the quarterfinals. The ninth-seeded Lady Colts (12-7) had four double-digit scorers, led by junior Lauren Pitti’s 21. Junior Katie Healy added 13, while classmates Christine Argentieri and Honora Campbell had 12 apiece.

Calhoun led for the first time after Campbell’s trey from the top of the key off a feed from senior Dana Brown with 31.3 seconds left. East Meadow head coach Pete Olenik then used his final full timeout to draw up a play for Shurina, who was fouled as she drove to the basket.

“I told the girls we were in the same position as the first time we played Calhoun and we could do it again,” Olenik said. “We were down 60-59 with the ball, just like tonight. Alyssa [Yablansky] won it with two late free throws, and this time it was Emily.

“It feels absolutely unbelievable to win a playoff game,” he added. “It’s a big win for the program and we did it in front of the home fans.”

Calhoun had its share of support in the stands as well as was valiant in defeat despite trailing almost the entire game. East Meadow led 17-10 after the first quarter, 30-21 at halftime, and 47-39 heading into the fourth. “Our girls never stop competing,” Lady Colts head coach Pete Magnuson said. “They play together and they’re tenacious. We played hard and had chances to win it. As a coach, that’s all I can ask.”

Back-to-back traditional three-point plays by Shurina and Hippner early in the fourth gave the Lady Jets their biggest lead at 53-41. Argentieri sparked Calhoun’s rally with a trey and Healy scored six points during the 19-6 run that momentarily turned the game in its favor.

“They had a really good comeback, but we’re happy we found a way to pull it out,” Shurina said.