Mepham running on all cylinders

Memo to the other 11 teams in the Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs: Mepham’s Kristen O’Brien feels good and the Lady Pirates are peaking at the right time.

O’Brien, a senior, had 17 points and 10 rebounds and junior backcourt mate Nicole Castaldo added 16 points and 12 boards to lead Mepham to a 59-46 Conference AA-III victory at Elmont last Friday. Senior Bria Fisher paced the Lady Spartans with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds.

“I think we’re capable of anything [in the playoffs],” said O’Brien, who every day gets closer to being 100 percent recovered from offseason knee surgery. “We’re going to run on any team, play tough defense and play with intensity. 

“We didn’t match Elmont’s intensity the first time, but we wanted to come in here and go hard right from the start,” she added.

After digging an early 8-2 hole, the Lady Pirates (14-3 overall, 12-2 in conference games) held the upper hand. They were sharp from the outside, led by freshman Megan Anderson’s trio of three-pointers, and even sharper from the foul line, going 17-for-18 including 10 in a row in the fourth quarter. Mepham will take an eight-game winning streak into the playoffs.

“We’re playing much better than we did in the first half of the season,” coach Jim Mulvey said. “We’re potentially looking at a top five seed in the playoffs, and we’ll take things from there.” 

Castaldo ignited an 11-0 run when she beat the first-quarter buzzer with a layup. O’Brien hit three straight shots to open the second, and eighth-grader Allyson Murphy came off the bench to drain a trey. Castaldo added seven points later in the quarter and the lead was 30-18 at halftime.

“The first time we played Elmont, Kristen scored her 1,000th point but it was probably our worst game of the season,” said Mulvey, recalling a 48-32 defeat Jan. 12. “We haven’t lost since that night.”

Elmont (10-7 overall, 9-5 in Conference AA-III), which was without senior Kyla Ridley, who is facing knee surgery, closed the gap to seven early in the third but the Lady Pirates used another 11-point spurt to lead 43-25 with 1:07 remaining in the quarter. Anderson swished two jumpers, including one from behind the arc, and junior Mary Galgano added a basket during what appeared to be the knockout punch.

However, the Lady Spartans fought back and made it interesting. After Anderson (13 points) dialed long distance to open the fourth to give Mepham its largest lead at 48-27, Elmont enjoyed an 11-pount outburst of its own led by seniors Goldie Harrison and Beatrice Pierre to get within 10 with 3:31 left. But the visitors cashed in every trip to the foul line down the stretch to hold on.