84.0°,
A Few Clouds Rebuilding Lady Mules at 3-6
Posted
Malverne's Katherine Mathieu eyes the basket during a 53-35 defeat to Conference ABC-III rival Carle Place on Jan. 5. Mathieu scored 12 points.
Kathy Leistner/Herald
Over the past two seasons, anything short of a county title would have been a disappointment for the Malverne girls’ basketball team. With back-to-back titles, the Lady Mules captured their fifth and sixth county championships under the leadership of head coach Lisa Gress, and the play of a pair of 1,000-point scorers, Brittany Jenkins and Alisha Steele.
With Jenkins and Steele off the college, and Gress now coaching at the junior high level, first-year varsity coach Mike Pelan looks to continue the rich tradition at Malverne. With a hard-fought 45-44 non-league victory over Long Beach on Jan. 7, the young and relatively inexperienced Lady Mules are 3-6 on the season. Brianna Cunningham had 23 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and four assists.
Pelan is enthusiastic about the challenge of keeping the Lady Mules competitive. “Everything is going well, we’re building with a very young team,” Pelan said. “A lot of the girls haven’t played very much basketball, and some are now in positions they’ve never faced before. It’s a challenge, but we’re coming along.”
The Lady Mules got the season off on the right foot with a 50-45 win over Clarke. Senior center Katherine Mathieu scored 12 points and sophomore forward Amanda Mason added eight as the team won in Pelan’s debut. Cunningham, in her first game as the new go-to girl, scored 22 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out four assists. The senior forward knocked down a pair of free throws with less than a minute to play to ice the victory.
Pelan is impressed with his leading scorer’s ability. “Brianne has really adjusted to being the focal point, especially on the offensive end,” Pelan said. “She’s tough, athletic, can score from inside, or shoot from the perimeter. She’s also been a great leader to the younger players.” Cunningham, who is averaging 19 points per contest, has opened the eyes of coaches at a few college programs who would like to the see her take her game to their campus in 2010-11.
After winning the opener, the Lady Mules dropped their next three games, all to Conference ABC-III opponents. Malverne got off to bad start, but battled back in a 36-30 loss to perennial power Floral Park. The Lady Mules then fell to long-time rival East Rockaway, 48-34, and despite a career-high 29 points from Cunningham, they ended up on the short end of 51-45 score with Plainedge.
The Lady Mules got back in the win column with a 39-36 win over host Freeport in the opening round of the Lady Devils Tournament. Rivera scored 14 points to lead the offense. Seventh-grader Alexis Lopez scored eight points. Her layup with less than a minute to play gave Malverne the lead.
Pelan, who has a junior varsity team after a couple years without one, hopes the Mules are on the right track. “The youth is the toughest part, but I’m optimistic.” he said. “We’re growing. The girls are learning about practicing every day, and being committed to the program.”
Malverne hosts Floral Park on Saturday at noon.
Report an inappropriate comment
Comments