Long Beach in playoff chase

In search of its first appearance in the Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs in four seasons, Long Beach put together back-to-back wins over Great Neck South and Westbury to close the opening half of the Conference AA-III schedule with a record of 4-3.

“It’s going to be an interesting second half,” Lady Marines coach Lori DeVivio said. “I think if we duplicate what we did in the first half, we’ll have enough wins to make the playoffs but it’s no guarantee.

“We want to be better the second time around and our goal is to avenge at least one of the three losses,” she added.

After a slow start Jan. 17 against visiting Westbury, Long Beach overcame a seven-point halftime deficit for a 54-41 victory. Junior Molly Martin scored seven of her career-high 18 points in the third quarter and sophomore Mary McDonagh and Perri Steiner added 12 points apiece to lead an offense that enjoyed its highest output of the season.

“Westbury shot well from the outside and was scrappy on the boards,” DeVivio said. “We wanted to attack and get them in foul trouble because they only had three players on the bench, but we only got one girl to the foul line in the first half.”

Some defensive adjustments and improved perimeter shooting sparked a 19-4 third-quarter run for the Lady Marines, who took a 38-30 lead into the fourth. DeVivio got away from a zone on defense and Martin and McDonagh held Westbury’s backcourt tandem of Kayla Bomani (12 points) and Kailin Mitchell (nine) to just a basket apiece in the second half. 

“We applied a lot more pressure in the second half and never let up,” DeVivio said. “We also started to knock down shots from the outside.”

Heating up from the perimeter is something DeVivio said she wants to see happen earlier in games. “We’re taking too long to find our shooting touch,” she said. “It’s something we need to improve in the second half along with being more consistent with rebounding. We’re putting in extra practice time on shooting drills.”

Long Beach’s highest-scoring first quarter of the season came in its previous game, a 42-32 win at Great Neck South Jan. 12. Martin, who is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds per game, scored five of her game-high 14 points in the first eight minutes as the Lady Marines built a 13-7 advantage and never looked back. Senior Brigitte Gilbert and sophomore Liz Rourke had six points apiece on the evening, while Steiner and senior Caitlin O’Connell chipped in five.

With Herricks undefeated and on the verge of locking down one of the conference’s four playoff spots, and Westbury and Great Neck South struggling, it appears five teams — Long Beach, Mepham, Elmont, Carey and Kennedy — are in the hunt for three playoff spots. “The girls know every game is meaningful,” DeVivio said.

The Lady Marines travel to Carey this Friday for a 4:30 p.m. start.