Oceanside stays in playoff race

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In search of a third straight trip to the Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs, Oceanside took an important step last Saturday with a much-needed 43-33 home victory over Uniondale in a pivotal Conference AA-I game.

Freshman forward Jamie Behar scored the Lady Sailors’ first dozen points and six of their last eight as part of a 25-point performance, and senior guard Samantha Stein added eight points. Kapri Bradshaw paced the Lady Knights with 15.

“We started strong and after they got close we had some great execution down the stretch on some set plays that helped us win,” head coach Joe Supple said after Oceanside improved to 3-5 in conference games and 5-9 overall. “This was really one we had to have to stay in the playoff race,” he added. “We’ve got four more to go and we need to find a way to get three of them.”

Behar, who upped her average on the season to a shade under 16 points, set the tone in Oceanside’s second win in three games by hitting her first three attempts for an 8-0 lead. Two of those shots came from behind the arc and forced Uniondale to adjust its defensive strategy after it held Behar to 12 points in the first meeting — a 40-32 win for the Lady Sailors on Jan. 3.

“Jamie’s got great range and that makes her so difficult to defend,” Supple said. “Today was another example how she’s able to score from the perimeter and from in-close.”

Stein set up the last of Behar’s five opening-quarter baskets and then hit a pull-up jumper to give Oceanside a 14-4 lead. Anissa Bonner scored the final hoop of the quarter to get Uniondale within eight and its ability to control the offensive boards allowed it to close to within a possession early in the third quarter at 19-17.

“We know we need to do a better job on the defensive boards and limit second-chance points,” Supple said. “We’ve talked about it a lot and we’ve been working on it. I was proud of how we played defensively, but we still have to improve when it comes to rebounding.”

The Lady Sailors closed the third quarter on an 11-4 run to take a nine-point lead into the fourth. Stein and junior Katie Coffey hit huge treys and senior Sabrina Seeger scored on a putback to spark the outburst. Then, on the inbounds pass to open the fourth, Coffey chucked the ball deep to Behar, who caught it in stride and scored an uncontested layup.

“It’s a play we practice and they executed it well,” Supple said. “That’s how we take advantage of Jamie’s height and Katie’s arm.”

Uniondale didn’t go down without a fight and scored eight straight to get within 35-32 with 2:22 remaining before Behar went 4-for-4 from the line in crunch time to seal the outcome.

“We had a good week of practice and a scrimmage against South Side that helped us prepare for this game,” Supple explained. “This win keeps us alive and we’re down to a four-game season.”