Oceanside eyes second-half run

Oceanside concluded the first half of its inaugural campaign in Nassau Conference AA-II by getting an up-close and personal view of one of the top girls’ basketball programs in the state last Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Sailors, who entered the game winners of eight of their first 10, fell behind host Baldwin by 18 points after one quarter and got no closer on the way to suffering a 67-23 defeat. The defending Long Island Class AA champs got a game-high 18 points from senior Jade Aponte, who shot 6-for-8 from three-point land, and 11 points from freshman Aziah Hudson.

“We’ve been playing well, but they’re so good,” Oceanside head coach Jason Manning said. “When you watch film on them, you use it as a learning experience and as a goal of where you want to be someday. Baldwin pressures the ball like nobody else. It’s a privilege to play against such a tremendous team.”

Junior Risa Zucker scored 12 points to lead the Lady Sailors, who stand at 3-3 in conference games after the first go-round. “I really think with the exception of Baldwin, the conference is wide-open,” Manning said. “Anyone can finish in that 2-spot. It’s realistic that we can go 5-1 in the second half, but at the same time if we don’t play well it can be the other way around. From second to seventh, the margin is that close.”

Oceanside, which missed the county playoffs by the slimmest of margins last winter, was dealt a tough break last month when senior Mara Stewart went down for the season with a serious case of mono. Stewart, off to a strong start with 18 points in back-to-back games out of the gate, led the team in scoring last season and was also a fierce defender. “We only had her for three games,” Manning said. “She’s still recovering but starting to feel better, that’s the most important thing. Everyone else has done well picking up some of the slack, but we definitely miss Mara.”

The Lady Sailors opened the season with four straight victories, including convincing decisions over conference rivals Plainview-JFK and East Meadow. Zucker had 17 points and senior center Emily Ott added 11 in the AA-II opener, a 50-33 win over Plainview, and double digits from senior Claire McNamara (14), sophomore Sabrina Seeger (12), and seventh-grader Jamie Behar (12) in beating East Meadow, 65-36.

Getting four players in double figures, including 18 from McNamara, and winning the fourth quarter by 13 points wasn’t enough for Oceanside in a 67-66 conference defeat at Hicksville. Zucker had 14, Behar 13, and Ott 10 in its first loss of 2014-15. Three straight non-league wins were followed by a 49-43 overtime setback to Valley Stream Central in a game Manning felt was decided on the boards. Senior Megan McNamara’s 17 points then led a 47-40 conference win over Port Washington.

“We have four days of practice to get ready for the second go-round,” Manning said. “We’re just going to treat each of the remaining six games as a playoff game.”