Lawrence nips Sewanhaka in OT

Twenty-four hours before more snow found its way to Nassau County last Friday, it was raining three-pointers at Lawrence where the host Lady Golden Tornadoes and Sewanhaka produced an entertaining Conference A-II girls’ basketball game.

But it was a conventional shot from the field — junior Gabrielle Golan’s 10-foot jumper with 27 seconds remaining — that gave Lawrence a thrilling come-from-behind 67-65 overtime victory. Golan (13 points) was one of four double-digit scorers for the Lady Golden Tornadoes, who played without sophomore center Nicole Robinson and trailed by as many as 16 in the first half.

“This is one of the best wins we’ve had in years,” Lawrence coach George Klein said after his team improved to 2-1 in conference play and 3-5 overall. “We lost our inside game with Nicole out, but everyone picked up the slack. Our defense and outside shooting turned it around. I told the girls at halftime we were going to go aggressively after the ball and not worry about fouls.”

Sewanhaka (2-2, 4-4), which got 19 points apiece from senior Megan Mullaney and junior Celine Jolicoeur, enjoyed a 26-10 lead midway through the second quarter but couldn’t maintain its torrid shooting pace. Lawrence senior Farrah Desvarieux had a game-high 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

“We’re a young team and failed to stay focus for four quarters,” Lady Indians coach Alex Soupios said. “It’s the first time we had a really big lead and it’s a lesson learned. We didn’t come out of the locker room with the same intensity we had in the first half.”

With Robinson watching from the bench with a cast on her right wrist, an injury suffered Dec. 23 and expected to sideline her for two more weeks, Sewanhaka raced to an 18-8 lead after eight minutes behind dead-on shooting from Mullaney. The four threes by Mullaney in the first quarter was a sign of things to come from both sides, which combined to sink 17 shots from behind the arch.

One dimensional without Robinson, Lawrence relied on outside shooting throughout. Sophomore Natalie Leger (14 points) had a rare four-point play with 1:54 left in the first half to make it 29-20, two more threes early in the second half to close the gap to four, and sank two free throws early in the fourth to vault the hosts into the lead for the first time at 48-47.

The final quarter featured five lead changes and saw Sewanhaka senior Monique Roberge (15 points) dominate inside, and Lawrence junior Taylor Brady hit two threes. A controversial foul call put Desvarieux on the line for three shots with 4.4 seconds to go. With her team down 59-58, she hit only the last attempt to tie it. Overtime was secured after a shot by Sewanhaka senior Sajeeda Chin bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Senior Miriam Vainblat (11 points) scored Lawrence’s first six points of OT. 

“It was our first game without Nicole and we felt pressure,” Desvarieux said. “We started slow but got more confident as the game went on.”