Lady Marines rally past Hempstead
Beat third straight conference foe
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Freshman Molly Martin helped lead a come-from-behind win over Carey.
Ron Manfredi/Herald
It wasn’t pretty, but still counted as a notch in the win column.
After digging an 11-point deficit in the second quarter against winless Hempstead on Tuesday afternoon, host Long Beach rallied behind the shooting of senior Natasia Hurd to squeak out a 37-35 victory in a Nassau Conference AA-III girls’ basketball game.
Hurd, relegated to the bench most of the first half after picking up two quick fouls, scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the second half as theLady Marines (3-2 Conference AA-III, 3-6 overall) won their third straight conference game. Sophomore Brigitte Gilbert added eight points and freshman Molly Martin chipped in seven points and seven rebounds. Celine Julicourled the Lady Tigers with 15 points.
“We were playing relatively solid basketball until today,” Long Beach coach Lori DeVivio said. “I’m glad we got the win, but it was a struggle. We’re normally very scrappy, but it took us half the game to wake up. We can’t play like this and expect to beat contenders.”
The Lady Marines couldn’t buy a basket or a rebound in a first quarter that saw Hempstead build a 12-5 lead. It didn’t help that Hurd committed two reach-in fouls in the first 2:21 and missed the next 9:24 of action. By the time she returned, the margin had swelled to 19-8. “I don’t know if it’s nerves or what, but our outside shooting needs a lot of work,” DeVivio said. “We’re moving the ball and getting good shots. If we can get two or three more to fall per game, we’ll make things that much easier on ourselves. Today we missed too many open shots and didn’t fight for rebounds.”
Hurt, Gilbert and sophomore Aileen Dennis led a late first-half rally that brought Long Beach within 21-16 at intermission, and with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter it finally had its first lead at 27-25. Late in the fourth, Hurd scored five straight points to make it 37-31, and the LadyMarines hung on after Hempstead answered with two baskets and had a chance to tie or win on its last possession. “We could’ve done a better job with clock management,” DeVivio said.
In its previous conference game on Jan. 5, Long Beach scored an exciting come-from-behind 44-42 victory over visiting Carey. Freshmen Martin and Kristen Barani had their best varsity games, scoring 12 and nine points,respectively. Barani provided the difference, sinking a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left for the win. Hurd scored all of her game-high 18points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter. “It was a remarkable effort and the biggest test these girls have faced,” DeVivio said.
The first conference win for the Lady Marines came at Valley Stream Central on Dec. 22, 40-37. They built a 13-0 lead after the first quarter and held on behind Hurd’s 25 points.
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