Sewanhaka topped by Garden City

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Faced with the difficult task of catching Garden City off a rare loss, Sewanhaka matched the intensity level of the visitors in last Friday’s Nassau Conference A-I girls’ basketball game but it wasn’t enough to overcome the hot shooting of the Lady Trojans.

Garden City drained 10 three-pointers, including four in the second half by standout Samantha Auricchio, and never trailed on the way to posting a 72-51 victory. Auricchio scored 14 of her game-high 29 points in the third quarter, capped by a 15-foot buzzer beater to create a 16-point advantage. Becky Reifler had 14 of her 24 points in the first half, including back-to-back treys to open the contest.

“The intensity level was what we expected,” Sewanhaka head coach Alex Soupios said. “Garden City came in here after losing to Wantagh earlier in the week and shot the ball really well. There are some games you just have to take your hats off to the opponent. I thought we did some good things, but we’re still a work in progress.”

Senior Michelle Niles (15) and junior Casey Hayes (12) scored in double figures for the Lady Indians, who slipped to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play. “We can do some things better against the zone, like reverse the ball through the middle instead of settling for all perimeter passes,” Soupios said. “We started to work the middle in the fourth quarter and saw some results. It’s something we’ll continue to work on.”

A strong start is something Garden City head coach Anthony Sparacia was looking for after his team fell behind Wantagh by eight at the half. “We lost our composure a couple of times along the way, but we knocked down some shots early to set the tone,” he said. “Sewanhaka is a very good team. They’re physical and much bigger than we are. We rely on our perimeter play, and it’s been pretty good.”

The Lady Trojans (10-1 overall) used a 14-5 run to take a 10-point lead after one quarter. Auricchio, who entered the game averaging 23.2 points, was held to just one field goal through 12 minutes but others stepped up to lead the offense. Shannon Kelly, who had five points in the first, and point guard Michaela Bruno (12 assists) both hit shots from behind the arc.

Sewanhaka, which beat Great Neck South, 49-40, on Jan. 13 behind 21 points from Hayes, nine from sophomore Destiny Hurt, and eight from senior Daniella Ford, had five different players score in the second quarter but was unable to gain any ground. It trailed 36-25 at the half, and then Auriecchio took over in the second half.

“We’re looking to peak towards the end of the season,” said Soupios, who noted the contributions of freshmen Cherish Francis and Kate Weinschreider. “We’ve had our ups and downs so far. It’s a very difficult conference. We just have to keep working.”

Sewanhaka tips off the second half of the conference slate this Friday at home versus Kennedy at 5 p.m.