Late free throw beats Lynbrook

Floral Park’s Jocelyn Penteck managed to contribute one point in last Friday’s Conference A-III showdown with visiting Lynbrook, and it happened to be the difference in 38-37 victory.

Penteck’s free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining snapped a four-game winning streak for the Lady Owls (5-3 overall, 3-1 in Conference A-III), who were whistled for two controversial fouls down the stretch after failing to hold the ball for a final shot.

“We shouldn’t have let it get to that point,” Lynbrook coach Heather Manikas said. “It was our mistake we didn’t take the last shot after inbounding the ball with 24 seconds left. The crowd was loud and very into it, and we got caught up in the moment. It’s something we can learn from.”

Lady Owls senior guard Brooke Gerstman, who recently eclipsed 1,000 points for her career, hit for a game-high 17, and senior guard Shannon Baker added seven. Kaela Hilaire led the Lady Knights (7-1 overall) with 13. 

“I thought we played a great third quarter and did what we needed to do defensively to win,” she added. “They’re a good team and our goal was to keep them under 40 points.”

Penteck was fouled on a putback attempt after grabbing the rebound of Lorraine Hickman’s second missed free throw with 4.7 seconds to go. Hickman went to the line after Lynbrook senior Danielle Amaya (six points) was called for a foul on what appeared to be a clean block.

The Lady Owls trailed 24-21 at halftime but clamped down on defense in the third quarter as Gerstman found her shooting touch. With the tandem of senior twin sisters Christine and Maria Randazzo both out for the season with knee injuries, and junior Joelle Church not expected back from a knee injury until next week, Amaya and freshman Ciara Gordon have logged the majority of minutes at forward and were again active on the boards with eight and six rebounds, respectively, at Floral Park.

Gerstman, who averaged 20.2 points during the four-game win streak, gave Lynbrook its first lead — 31-29 — since the opening quarter with 1:26 left in the third. She cut the deficit to a point after a basket and foul, and Amaya rebounded the missed free throw and kicked the ball out to Gerstman, who found nothing but net from a foot behind the arc.

The final six minutes were a roller coaster ride after the Lady Owls squandered a few opportunities from the foul line early in the fourth. Senior Amanda Coughlin (six points) made it 35-31 Lynbrook with 3:35 remaining, but Valerie Fox and Hilaire answered with baskets to pull the hosts even with 1:17 left. Baker sank a pair of free throws 14 seconds later to regain the lead at 37-35, but that was all for the offense.

“Our focus in practice will still be defense,” said Manikas, “but we’re going to work on ball movement and becoming more of an offensive threat.”

The Lady Owls are back in action Dec. 18 when they visit West Hempstead at 6:30 p.m.