Balanced efforts propel Mepham

Mepham’s enjoyed quite a ride through the first half of its Conference AA-III girls’ basketball schedule, winning its first five games (and seven of 10 overall), including a 48-27 victory over previously unbeaten Herricks last Friday, a team that won its first 11 games overall.

In the win, Lady Pirates junior point guard Alexa Morris scored a game-high 21 points, including 18 in an opening half where she outscored the entire Lady Highlanders team by six points. “The key was definitely our defense,” Mepham head coach Jim Mulvey said. “And Alexa, if she’s open, she’ll take shots but can drive to the basket, too.”

Morris canned 12 of her points on threes, and the Mepham defense limited Barbara Nictas, Nassau County’s leading three-point shooter to merely four three throws, and Herricks scored just three points in each of the second and third quarters. “The girls have gotten better as the year has gone on which is nice to see as a coach,” Mulvey said, noting that the current roster features a number of new contributors. “We’ve done a lot more teaching this season.”

Following a narrow, 48-45, win over district-rival Calhoun on Dec. 20, Mepham had a team meeting that centered on defense, and since the sit down, the results have been nothing short of remarkable. The Lady Pirates haven’t allowed more than 36 points in any of the four Conference AA-III games since, and it’s all come without relying on presses or traps. The players have simply dug in their sneakers and played an aggressive man defense. “We definitely made a commitment to defense,” Mulvey said. “The captains said we need more attitude, energy and effort and the girls bought into that.”

Senior Emily Schmitt draws the assignment of covering the best player on every opponent, and in the win over Herricks limited Erin Rivera, one of just three players to score in the game, to 14 points (four on free throws). “She doesn’t care about scoring,” Mulvey said. “She takes pride in her defense.”

Prior to Morris dropping a career-high 21 points, senior Brigid McNeil set a personal best with 15 in a 49-35 win over Long Beach on Jan. 14. She added eight rebounds, while junior Nicole Moccio chipped in with 10 points and junior Megan Anderson turned in a well-rounded game of nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists. The output, which included 20 points in the third quarter alone, was just one in a season-long string of balanced efforts for a Mepham team that can not only score inside but extend the defense with the three-point shot.

“We’ve had multiple high scorers,” Mulvey said, noting that seven different players have finished atop the scoring charts in the Lady Pirates first 10 games. “We’ll shoot threes when we need them, and we’re making them. We’re spreading the ball around and we’re not throwing it all over the place [turning it over]. The kids have stepped up.”