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Mostly Cloudy Win streak boosts Oceanside's confidence
The Oceanside girls’ basketball team is coming off an historic season. The Sailors made the playoffs for the first time in five years and won a playoff round for the first time since 2012.
But Oceanside has learned in the early going of 2023-24 that trumping history isn’t as easy despite continued stellar play of superstar Brianna Amenta.
Oceanside is off to a decent-enough 7-5 start and has posted three straight non-league victories — a giant win over Calhoun and solid wins over Herricks and Carey. But Oceanside’s Conference AAA record stands at 1-2 and that gnaws at head coach Jared Stoler.
In the new conference format, teams face each other just once so the senior-laden Sailors won’t get a chance at revenge after early season conference defeats to Uniondale and Freeport.
“They were close games and if you take those as wins, we could’ve secured a better playoff spot than what we’re looking at right now,’’ Stoler said. “The way we’re constructed, we’re better prepared if we had more game experience. I’m bummed about those two losses. If we saw them again, I have total confidence we could’ve switched the outcome around.’’
“The season has gone pretty good,’’ Farsky said. “We have so many returnees from last year. We’ve won our last three games, which is a team booster. I think we are getting the pieces together with our defense.’’
Farsky has noticed a better cohesion after a change to a strict man-to-man defensive scheme. “ It’s been put together the last few games and our help defense is better,’’ Farsky said. “We’re getting it together.’’
Oceanside’s top defender has been Maeve Barrins, a senior who averages the most minutes. “She’s one of the best defenders in the county,’’ Stoler said. “She’s on the floor or 32 of the 32 minutes unless she needs break or the opposing best player is out. She does everything well on defense. She knows where everyone should be and plays great on the ball and off the ball.’’
Other notable tough defenders are Grace DeDominica and Natalie Paul, who both come off the bench. “They’re not lighting up the scoreboard but they’re always right around the ball fighting for the rebound,’’ Stoler said. “When we’re firing on all cylinders, our defense is really good and we’ve continued what we did last year.’’
The Sailors biggest concern was whether they had enough firepower surrounding Amenta. Farksy has done her part, Emma Pagano (6.5 ppg) has scored a lot of buckets around the rim and junior Camryn Weinberg (5.8 ppg) is also contributing.
Farsky, meanwhile, has improved her free-throw shooting. She’s 9 of 11 in her last two games. “We’re doing a lot of it in practice,” she said. “Getting those extra points on the board has really helped us and it’s been good for me.’’
Oceanside’s best victory came Dec. 27 against Calhoun, 57-47, when Amenta scored 15 points, 7 assists and provided excellent defense. “It was our most complete game of the year,’’ Stoler said.
The best may be yet to come for the Sailors, who face Baldwin this week. Baldwin knocked Oceanside out of the playoffs last season in the quarterfinals.
“I would love to go farther,’’ Farsky said. “We have basically the same group of girls. We want to make the playoffs and if we can make it to Hofstra (The Final 4), that’s the goal.’’
