Lynbrook holds off South Side

Trailing third-seeded Lynbrook by 14 points after three quarters of last Thursday’s Nassau Class A girls’ basketball first-round playoff matchup, No. 14 South Side wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.

The Lady Cyclones chipped away at the deficit throughout the fourth and staged a furious rally in the final minute, but the Lady Owls held on for a 43-39 victory behind senior Brooke Gerstman’s 18 points.

“The most important thing in the playoffs is to win and move on,” Lady Owls coach Heather Manikas said. “Everyone knew South Side would be a tough opponent. Our offense was out of whack and we turned the ball over a lot more than usual, and that’s something we have to fix for the next round.”

Gerstman, who was blanketed by South Side sophomore Juliana Hadjiyane and held to five points in the first half, went 3-for-4 from the foul line in the closing seconds to help Lynbrook (14-4) advance to face No. 6 Wantagh in the quarterfinals. Senior Maggie McGowan and junior Bridget Kiernan paced the Lady Cyclones (9-9) with 10 points apiece.

“We haven’t been able to start a lot of games with that fire, but we always finish with it,” South Side coach Katelyn Dunn said. “I think we had some nerves early and committed some silly turnovers, but the girls hung in there and we had a shot at the end.

“We usually play a strong, tough fourth quarter,” she added. “I think all we needed tonight was one more minute.” 

Lynbrook scored the first nine points of the game, led 20-11 at the half and appeared ready to pull away after freshman Ciara Gordon, Gerstman, and senior Danielle Amaya hit shots late in the third quarter to make it 34-20 with eight minutes to go.

But sophomore Jessica Hawley came off the bench and gave South Side the spark it needed. Her three-pointer sparked a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter and if not for Gerstman, who scored Lynbrook’s last nine points, the visitors could have stormed all the way back.