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Overcast Lynbrook ousted in semifinals
In a game billed as a battle between conference champions with senior-laden starting lineups, it was ironic that it was an underclassman that rose to the occasion.
Freshman guard Samantha Auricchio scored 11 points, including three huge three-pointers in the second half, to lead No. 2 Garden City to a 41-36 win over No. 3 Lynbrook in a Nassau Class A girls’ basketball semifinal at Freeport High School Feb. 29. Senior Christina Mangels scored eight points and pulled down 18 rebounds for Garden City. Senior Brooke Gerstman scored 19 points to lead the Lady Owls.
Garden City (18-2), the defending Long Island champion, advanced take on No. 1 North Shore for the county championship. Lynbrook finished with a record of 15-5.
Lynbrook coach Heather Manikas was proud of her team. “We won our conference, and were one of four teams left playing in the county,” Manikas said. “This was a great game. We didn’t lose due to a lack of effort or heart. Sometimes, the shots just don’t fall, and your offense is just a little off. That was us tonight. I have to give Garden City a lot of credit for a great defensive effort.”
Much of that credit goes to Jess Stein. The energetic senior guard defended Gerstman the entire game, and made Lynbrook’s all-time leading scorer work hard for every basket. Gerstman scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half.
Both teams played the first half as if it was a feeling-out process. Neither team got into any flow on the offensive end, but Garden City was dominant on the boards. The Lady Trojans led 17-15 at the intermission. Mangels led all scorers with six points at the break. Both Mangels and Gerstman picked up a pair of fouls in the opening half.
Auricchio immediately put her stamp on the game as the second half began. She buried a pair of threes from the right corner in the opening minutes to help the Lady Trojans open up a 26-17 lead.
But back came Lynbrook and Gerstman. The Conference A-III Player of the Year’s second trey of the third quarter, with less than a minute to play, cut the Garden City lead to 31-28.
