Oceanside rallies to beat VSC

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After needing overtime to settle their first meeting, Conference AA-II girls’ basketball rivals Oceanside and Valley Stream Central played another back-and-forth game that came down to the wire last Friday night.

This time, the result was different. Oceanside’s Claire McNamara drove baseline and banked in the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds remaining to lift the visitors to a 40-37 victory. McNamara, a senior, scored the game’s final six points after Central broke a tie with 1:17 left on sophomore Isabella Gandesegui’s three-pointer.

Senior Emily Ott and junior Risa Zucker had 10 points apiece to lead the Lady Sailors (12-3 overall, 7-3 in AA-II), who clinched a berth in the Nassau Class AA playoffs after falling short last season on tiebreaker criteria. McNamara scored all eight of her points in the second half of a game featuring seven lead changes. The Lady Eagles (6-8, 4-5), who got a game-high 14 points from senior Naomi Bolasingh, still have work to do to make the playoffs.

“Claire struggled a bit in the first half but she kept plugging away and came up huge in the end,” Oceanside head coach Jason Manning said. “She made an unbelievable move on the winning shot and then sealed it with two free throws.

“We didn’t seem to get much going offensively, except in the first quarter, but I thought we executed very well defensively,” he added. “Bolasingh is such a good player and we focused on taking her out of her comfort zone as much as possible.”  

Bolasingh, who averages 18.3 points per game to rank in the Top 10 in Nassau County, had 15 in Central’s 49-43 overtime win at Oceanside on Jan. 6. Senior Jasmin Garden added eight points last Friday, however, the Lady Eagles were unable to generate any offense in the paint.

“This certainly doesn’t help our playoff situation,” VSC head coach Malyssa Thorngren said. “We’re lumped together with Hicksville and Port Washington. We beat Port twice, which help us. But we need a strong finish.

“For whatever reason, we haven’t played well on days we haven’t had school,” she added.

The hosts started slow with only one field goal in the opening quarter, which ended with the Lady Sailors holding an 11-3 lead. The pace picked up in the second when treys by Garden and Bolasingh helped Central chip away at the deficit. Sophomore Sabrina Seeger, who scored five of her six points in the first half, gave Oceanside a lift along with senior Megan McNamara, who knocked down a three-pointer. 

The rematch began looking a lot like the first meeting after a Bolasingh basket brought Central within 19-17 at halftime. On Jan. 6, Oceanside led 19-18 at intermission.

“We’re evenly matched teams,” Thorngren said. 

The Lady Eagles took a 27-25 lead into the fourth after freshman Raven Pitt’s running layup. Gandesegui opened the final quarter with a pair of free throws, giving them their largest lead, but Oceanside wouldn’t be denied.

“It was a tough week for everyone with the snow and exams,” Manning said. “We’re pretty excited to get out of here with a win.”