Mepham ousted by Uniondale

Trailing No. 4 Uniondale by 17 points less than a minute into the fourth quarter of a Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball quarterfinal playoff game Feb. 22, fifth-seeded Mepham made one final push.

Juniors Nicole Castaldo and Mary Galgano led a nine-point spurt for the Lady Pirates to keep the outcome in doubt, but the hosts held on for a 58-48 victory behind the play of juniors Aliyah McDonald and Jaydan Hyatt.

McDonald scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half and Hyatt added 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Uniondale (13-5), which advanced to meet two-time defending county champion and No. 1 seed Baldwin in the semifinals. Castaldo’s 19 points paced Mepham (15-4), which outscored the Lady Knights over the last three quarters after digging a 17-6 hole after eight minutes.

“I felt like we were ready, but they defended us well and jumped out on us early,” Mepham coach Jim Mulvey said. “They’re big and quick, and I thought we’d have to hold them under 50 to get out of here with a win.”

Uniondale’s speed and size were factors all afternoon, particularly in the first quarter when Mepham showed offensive jitters. “We scouted their playoff win over Hicksville and knew how well they could shoot,” Lady Knights coach Danielle Nicol said of the Lady Pirates, who steamrolled to a 56-28 first-round playoff win over the 12th-seeded Lady Comets behind freshman Megan Anderson’s 18 points. “We didn’t want to get lit up by their drive-and-kick,” she added. “We played tough defense and our height came in handy.”

Hyatt and senior Artiana Wynder (10 rebounds) keyed the effort on the glass for Uniondale, which trailed only once at 4-2. “They had a lot of second and third opportunities in the first quarter,” Mulvey said. “We did a better job boxing out as the game went on.”

Hyatt had eight first-quarter points and a dozen by halftime as the Lady Knights held a 28-16 lead at intermission. McDonald and Castaldo stood out offensively for their respective teams in the second half. Each hit a trey early in the third quarter to set the tone, and McDonald found another gear on an end-to-end rush that upped Uniondale’s advantage to 39-23 midway through the quarter.

“Knowing how well they can shoot, I wasn’t all that comfortable with the lead until late in the fourth quarter,” Nicol said.

After Castaldo and junior Samantha Hishmeh (nine points) helped trim the margin to 43-30 by the end of the third, McDonald and Wynder opened the fourth with baskets to give Uniondale its largest lead of the day. Mepham chipped away again, getting to within 51-42, but a McDonald free throw and Hyatt’s tip-in of her missed second free throw stretched the lead back to 12 with less than three minutes remaining.

“I’m proud of the way we hung in there,” Mulvey said. “We’ll really miss Kristen [O’Brien], but the rest of our starters are returning.”