Long Beach rallies past Carey

Junior forward Molly Martin scored nine of her 11 points in the second half and ripped down 14 rebounds to lead host Long Beach to a 39-33 come-from-behind victory over Carey in a Nassau Conference AA-III girls’ basketball game Dec. 20.

After hitting just one shot in the opening quarter and trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Lady Marines rallied for their first win of the season behind some defensive adjustments and aggressive work on the boards.

Sophomore Perri Steiner added nine points, seven rebounds and five blocks, and senior Brigitte Gilbert chipped in seven points and six steals for Long Beach, while Carey got a game-high 14 points from freshman guard Victoria Porcasi and seven points from senior forward Liz Osowiecki.

“It’s a win we really needed,” Lady Marines coach Lori DeVivio said. “We always play wacky games against Carey. We’re similar teams and it always seems to come down to the wire.

“The girls weathered a really bad storm early and proved to each other they can fight back from a large deficit,” she added. “We went from being down 13 to up 11.”

The Lady Seahawks (2-2 overall), who opened conference play with a victory over Great Neck South, were held to two points in the third quarter and nine points in the second half. “The first half was great,” Carey coach Teresa Schmidt said. “I think we got a little too confident. In the second half we got away from the team concept. Usually we’re a strong second-half team, but today it was the opposite.”

Despite a prolonged bus ride, the Lady Seahawks were off and running with a three-pointer from junior Erin Gilroy and stayed a step ahead of Long Beach throughout the first half. Carey led 10-2 after the first quarter and extended its advantage to 22-9 with 2:32 remaining in the half thanks to consecutive treys by Porcasi.

Closing the half with a 7-2 spurt proved huge for Long Beach. Steiner had five points during the run and sophomore Shauna Spruiell beat the buzzer following a nifty pass from Martin, and the Lady Marines had something positive to take into the locker room but still trailed 24-16.

“I challenged them at halftime,” DeVivio said of her players. “We were getting crushed on the boards despite our size advantage and they were playing a zone that we weren’t taking advantage of.” 

Tenacity on the glass and a defensive tweak — DeVivio used Martin to guard Porcasi — sparked Long Beach’s comeback. All five Lady Marines to start the second half — Gilbert, Steiner, Martin, Liz Rourke and Mary McDonagh — had points in the third quarter as the hosts scored 13 points and surged ahead by three.

The Lady Marines (1-4 overall) never let off the gas and there was no looking back after Martin and Gilbert opened the fourth with three pointers on consecutive possessions.