Lady Jets still in playoff hunt

Host East Meadow went toe-to-toe with defending Nassau Class AA champion Baldwin for the first 11 minutes of last Friday’s Conference AA-II girls’ basketball game and was within a basket of the undefeated visitors early in the second quarter.

But it wasn’t long before the Lady Bruins cranked up the engine and stepped on the gas. Their defensive pressure and transition offense took control, and a 16-point run to close the first half sent them on the way to a convincing 59-24 victory.

Senior Courtney Jackson, despite battling a nasty cold, led Baldwin (9-0 in conference play, 12-0 overall) with a game-high 17 points and five steals. Senior Keira Corbin added 12 points and sophomore Janae DeGraff pulled down 12 rebounds. For East Meadow (3-5, 6-7), senior Melissa Cohen had nine points and sophomore Jennifer Gundrum had six points and 10 rebounds.

“Things are going great and everyone’s working hard,” said Jackson, who capped the second-quarter rally with a three-pointer. “We need to make sure we come out strong every game. Attitude, effort and defense is what makes us go.”

After Baldwin raced to a 14-3 lead, the Lady Jets responded with an impressive five-minute stretch sparked by Cohen and senior Emily Hoffman. Cohen, who has a strong handle at the point and can thrive in any tempo, had seven points and Hoffman added four in an 11-2 spurt.

“Baldwin is a tough matchup for anyone,” East Meadow coach Bethany LeSueur said. “They’re undefeated.”

With their lead trimmed to 16-14, the Lady Bruins unleashed their full- and half-court presses and also got hot from the outside. They picked up three points on three consecutive possessions to go up by nine and forced a timeout by LeSueur. Junior Ayanna Hudson had a three-point play, and Jackson and Corbin both hit shots from behind the arc. After the timeout, freshman Mariah Butler sank a jumper, Jackson a layup and three-pointer and it was 32-14 at halftime.

“They did a good job running their zone and shots weren’t falling for us early,” Baldwin coach Tom Catapano said. “Defense got us going.”

East Meadow was coming off its highest-scoring game of the season, a 60-53 victory over Plainview-JFK that saw Gundrum score 14 points and grab 14 rebounds. The Lady Jets, who are chasing Hicksville for the fourth and final playoff spot in Conference AA-II, host Port Washington on Friday at 7 p.m.

“Making playoffs is a big focus of ours,” LeSueur said. “It could come down to us and Hicksville. We didn’t play well against them the first time. We go to their place the second-to-last game of the season and we’re going to make sure we’re ready.”