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Light Rain Fog/Mist Mepham hopes to catch a break
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Mepham girls' basketball coach Jim Mulvey, center, speaks to players during a timeout last Friday at Baldwin.
Claudio Papapietro/Herald
Mepham has easily seen its fair share of breaks on the basketball court, and unfortunately for the Lady Pirates almost all of them have been of the bad variety.
Senior Alex Leung, who captured last season's Conference AA-II Player of the Year award, has missed five games with a dislocated finger, while senior center Lauren Johnson, a key rebounder and scorer in the paint, has been shelved for the season due to ankle problems.
Throw in the loss of freshman Nicole Castaldo, a scoring and rebounding threat, with a broken finger, and it's easy to see why Mepham has struggled with a 4-11 mark (1-9 in Conference AA-I). Compounding problems has been the leap to Nassau top conference after a 19-1 finish in 2008-09. The injury bug has taken such a significant chunk out of Mepham that coach Jim Mulvey has even taken the court during some recent practice games.
But there just may be a silver lining on the horizon for the Lady Pirates, as Leung was aiming for a return on Senior Day this Monday against Oceanside, the team against whom she broke her finger on Jan. 14. And there was also the possibility that Castaldo would be available for the Nassau Class AA playoff opener on Friday Feb. 12. "Our season starts on Senior Day," Mulvey said.
In the wake of all the injuries, much of the scoring load has fallen onto the shoulders of sophomore Kristen O'Brien, who netted eight points in a 69-30 loss at Baldwin last Friday. The first time around, with Leung, Johnson and Castaldo in the lineup, the Lady Pirates fell just shy in a 55-50 decision to the only one-loss team left in Conference AA-I.
Defenses have focused most of their attention on O'Brien, an inside-out threat, but a new weapon has started to emerge in the wake of the injuries. Freshman shooting guard Mary Galgano scored a team-high 10 against the Lady Bruins, canning a pair of threes and four free throws while also running the point for stretches. "She's brings shooting and intensity [to the court]," Mulvey said. "And she's learning how to handle the ball."
In Johnson's absence, seniors Jenna Cavuto and Sharon Aluma have assumed a larger role in the paint. The recent all-hands-on-deck approach has also allowed nearly every healthy player on the roster to get on the court during games and help the Lady Pirates develop the type of depth that could become important when the postseason kicks off. "It's been good for the freshmen," Mulvey said. "The kids have been coming off the bench and contributing."
The rematch with the Lady Sailors, set to tip-off at 6 p.m., caps the regular season with Mepham hoping to even the score after suffering a 47-20 defeat in the first battle. O'Brien led all scorers with 15 points.
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