Long Beach in playoff picture

The Long Beach girls’ basketball team enters the home stretch of the season with a playoff spot within reach.

The Marines stayed in the postseason hunt last Saturday with a commanding 50-24 home win against Herricks. The blowout victory avenged a previous 53-38 setback to the Highlanders on Dec. 18 and positioned Long Beach to qualify for the playoffs with wins in three of its last four games.

“This season has shown a lot of progress and the team has been coming together,” Long Beach head coach Blake Malizia said. “Playing top teams like MacArthur, East Meadow and Mepham has prepared us well for this last stretch that we have coming up.”

The Herricks win snapped a three game losing streak to the top teams in the conference in MacArthur, East Meadow and Mepham. Prior to that grueling stretch, Long Beach won three in a row against Jericho, Great Neck South and Valley Stream Central.

Momentum from the Herricks win carried over into Tuesday night’s pivotal matchup at Jericho. The Marines won 47-34 to improve to 5-6 in Conference AA-I, leaving them two wins from a playoff berth. Long Beach was led by 12 points from junior forward Franky DeCicco and 11 by sophomore guard Anala Teemer. 

Long Beach has been paced this season by senior guard Ava Main, who has committed to play college women's lacrosse at James Madison University. Main tallied 12 points in the Herricks win last Saturday and 16 in a 68-49 loss at East Meadow on Jan. 18.

Main has also shown strong leadership abilities as a tri-captain with seniors Ella Timpiero and Fabiana Boncina. 

“She is a true leader who never takes a play off in practice or a game,” said Malizia of Main. “She was a born competitor and off the court she is a great team leader always picking the girls up.”

Junior forwards Reagan McCarthy and DeCicco have also stepped up big for the Marines giving the team a strong inside game to complement Main at the perimeter. DeCicco led Long Beach with 16 points in a 52-23 win against Valley Stream Central on Jan. 12. And McCarthy keyed a 39-35 triumph against Jericho on Dec. 21 with 10 points. 

This season has also been highlighted by strong contributions from three freshmen in starting point guard Jordan Soriano along with Brianna Bothell and Teemer, who have both seen significant minutes in the backcourt off the bench. Soriana was the team’s second leading scorer in the Herricks win with eight points. 

Long Beach is next in action on Friday evening at Great Neck South before hosting Mepham on Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. The regular season then concludes on Feb. 9 at home against Valley Stream for a 5 p.m. tipoff.

“We have to beat the teams that we know that we're capable of beating,” Malizia said. “Offensively we need to start moving the ball a little bit better and being a little bit more patient finding that extra pass.”