Mepham climbs as true team

There is no “I” in team, and Mepham continues to pile up victories with contributions from everyone who steps on the floor. In racking up three Conference AA-III wins last week, the Lady Pirates (7-3 overall, 4-1 in AA-III) had three different leading scorers. In fact, through 10 games, six different players have led the team in points.

“Our senior leadership has definitely carried us,” head coach Jim Mulvey said, with three seniors among the list of top scorers so far. “We’re collectively playing well as a team, and we’re more balanced.”

Senior Alexa Morris paced the team with 11 points, while senior Nicole Moccio had 10 in a 47-29 victory over Westbury last Saturday. Senior Megan Anderson scored just four points, but she was a stat-stuffer in the win, grabbing 10 rebounds, handing out five assists and registering four steals, helping lead a defensive effort that limited the Lady Dragons to just six first-half points—only two in the second quarter.

“We’re committed to an aggressive man [defense], but we’ll mix it up [defensively],” Mulvey said of his team, which has limited seven of its 10 opponents to 45 points or less.

On Jan. 8, Mepham changed up its offense in the fourth quarter against MacArthur, and it worked perfectly. After launching a perimeter-oriented attack through the first three quarters (seven three-pointers), the Lady Pirates started to feed sophomore Maeve Testa in the low post over the final eight minutes. Testa responded by scoring nine of her game-high 15 points—she also pulled down eight rebounds in the win—in the fourth quarter.

Mepham pulled away from the Lady Generals in the final quarter, outscoring them, 17-9. Anderson added 13 points, while Moccio handed out seven assists. “We were tied with MacArthur in the fourth quarter and the girls showed they can finish,” Mulvey said noting the flexibility of his offense. “We’ve had as many as 11 threes in a game and [against MacArthur] went [inside].”