Mepham's run ends in semis

Mepham made a big leap forward on the hardwood this winter, capping an undefeated Conference AA-III campaign — the Lady Pirates (14-5 overall, 10-0 in Conference AA-III) were one of just two teams in Nassau County to accomplish that, the other, Baldwin, advanced to the championship game — with a trip to the Class AA semifinals last Saturday night.

Second-seeded Massapequa jumped out to a 16-point lead after one quarter, fought back a Mepham charge in the second and pulled away for a 69-34 victory at LIU Post.

“We cut it to 13 at the half and weren’t totally out of it, but they’re a smothering team,” Lady Pirates coach Jim Mulvey said of a Massapequa program looking for its second straight title. “We know they’re a premier program, and that’s the level we’re trying to get to.”

Junior Alexa Morris led the Lady Pirates offense with 11 points, while junior Megan Anderson scored all nine of her points on three-pointers. “Getting to [C.W.] Post and playing in front of a huge crowd was a great experience,” Mulvey said, noting the large group of Lady Pirates fans that made the trip.

In advancing to the Class AA Final Four for the first time, Mepham came off a first-round bye and defeated No. 6 Herricks, 50-42, in the quarterfinals on Feb. 18. It was the third time this season the Lady Pirates knocked off the Highlanders, a feat not lost on Mulvey. “It’s very tough [to do] especially when it’s Herricks, because we’ve had battles with them,” he said.

In fact, the road to the semis wasn’t exactly a smooth one, as Herricks opened up a double-digit advantage on the scoreboard in the first quarter before the Lady Pirates, in front of a packed home crowd, stormed back with 16 consecutive points. “We were very uptight coming out and they just came in a little looser,” Mulvey said. “We played better man-to-man defense and won the quarter [outscoring the Highlanders 19-5]. We started running our sets better.”

Senior Brigid McNeil, whose game improved on both ends of the floor as the season progressed, turned in a double-double, scoring a game-high 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. It was her second consecutive double-double against Herricks. In the Conference AA-III finale, she posted 15 points and 16 rebounds. Anderson again drained three three-pointers and totaled 12 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists, and junior Nicole Moccio had 10 points. “Just her presence inside opened everything up,” Mulvey said of McNeil. “She did a great job defensively and grabbed a lot of rebounds.”

In winning the regular season Conference AA-III crown, Mepham was led by a defense that limited seven of the 10 opponents to less than 40 points, including two to fewer than 30. “This was a very enjoyable season as a coach seeing the team develop,” Mulvey said.