Mepham topped by Sewanhaka

Mepham entered its Nassau Class A girls’ basketball quarterfinal playoff matchup at No. 3 Sewanhaka on a 15-game winning streak and showed its mettle after digging a 14-point hole through 10 minutes of play.

The sixth-seeded Lady Pirates clawed back to get within three at halftime and took the lead midway through the third quarter, but eventually ran out of gas in the fourth and suffered a season-ending 65-55 defeat.

“It’s a tough environment to play and I thought we settled down after a difficult start,” Mepham head coach Jim Mulvey said. “We saw about six Sewanhaka games on film and tried to simulate their pressure in practice. We just missed too many layups and had a bunch of turnovers on our side of the floor that led to points for them.”

Sophomore Carly Bolivar scored 12 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and senior Destiny Hurt also poured in 23 to lead the way for No. 3 Sewanhaka, which advanced to face second-seeded North Shore in the semis. Four Lady Pirates scored in double figures, led by Maryann Bagonis’ 13 points.

“We knew we needed to bring the pressure and use our athleticism,” Sewanhaka head coach Alex Soupios said. “They’re a well-coached and smart team and we wanted to make them as uncomfortable as possible.”

Mepham, which eliminated Wantagh in a first-round playoff game, behind Kara Castaldo’s 16 points, led 9-7 at Sewanhaka midway through the first quarter after junior Kelsey Vandewater (12 points) hit her first shot attempt off the bench. The Lady Indians responded after a timeout by Soupios and reeled off 16 straight points, sparked by its trapping defense led by junior Cherish Francis and aided by six missed free throws by the visitors, and built a 23-9 cushion with 5:26 remaining in the half.

Hurt had 11 points in the opening quarter, and sophomore Flo Hunte (10 points) had a trey in each of the first two quarters. Mepham quickly regained its composure, however, and steadily chipped away at the margin behind Castaldo (11 points) and Bagonis. The juniors combined for 11 points in the second and the Lady Pirates went into intermission with momentum despite trailing 29-26.

Mepham was back in front 35-34 with 3:50 to go in the third quarter following a layup by senior Maeve Testa (12 points.) It was then Sewanhaka’s turn to make a run, and it scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a 44-36 lead before a basket by Testa and a trey by Castaldo cut the margin back to three heading into the fourth.

Testa picked up her fifth personal just 86 seconds into the final quarter and the Lady Indians increased their lead to 50-41. Vandewater led a Mepham surge that brought it back within four, but Bolivar’s perfect performance from the foul line (10-for-10) down the stretch helped Sewanhaka seal it.

“We’re a fairly young team with only one starting senior and I thought our kids stepped up,” Mepham said.