Mepham returns to semifinals

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Mepham gave up the first basket of its Nassau County Class AA quarterfinal matchup against fifth-seeded Freeport on Feb. 18, then ripped off the next dozen points and never looked back in a 67-45 home victory.

Reliant on an up-tempo offense that looked to fast break at every opportunity, the No. 4 Lady Pirates (14-4 overall) never allowed the Lady Red Devils (10-8) to get into any sustainable rhythm. “Mepham did an outstanding job,” Freeport head coach Meredith Jones said. “They just outright beat us. We missed a few quick layups and it snowballed from there.”

The Lady Pirates advanced to the Class AA Final Four at LIU-Post, where they dropped an 82-44 decision to No. 1 and unbeaten Baldwin, the defending county champion, last Saturday.

In knocking off Freeport, Mepham, as it has all season, rode the wave of a well-rounded effort that included four players scoring in double figures with all of them grabbing at least five rebounds. Senior Megan Anderson scored 16 points with 10 boards, four assists, four three-pointers and three steals. She drained a pair of her threes during the 12-point run in the first quarter and added another on the first possession of the third quarter which seemed to cement the fact the Lady Pirates—at the time up by 21--would not be letting the Lady Devils back in the game.

“We don’t have one kid that scores [20 a game],” Mepham head coach Jim Mulvey said. “We’re five kids that move the ball.”

The other six points of the first-quarter scoring blitz were scored by sophomore Maeve Testa, who had a pair of layups and a jumper on the way to 12 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Julia Anderson, leaned on a little more heavily in the wake of a first-quarter injury to Mepham’s defensive stopper, Taylor O’Brien, chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds, while senior Nicole Moccio added 11 points and five boards. Senior point guard Alexa Morris had a well-rounded game of four points, five rebounds and seven assists.

Saddled by foul trouble that forced her to the bench for long stretches before ultimately fouling out in the fourth quarter, Freeport senior AJ Smith, who totaled 57 points and 30 rebounds in her last two games combined, managed just 11 points and nine rebounds. “AJ Smith is great,” Mulvey said. “She was the focus [of our defense]. It was all about stopping AJ Smith. We were going to double-down on her.

“I’m proud of our team. We played man-to-man defense and got up in people’s faces.”

The Lady Pirates had a 21-point edge at halftime and extended the lead to as many as 30 in the fourth quarter after a pair of layups in transition by Moccio and a putback by Testa off an offensive rebound sandwiched around a jumper from Freeport’s Phalan Smith.

Julia Anderson led the way in the loss to Baldwin with 11 points.