Mepham holds off Kennedy

Heading into the fourth quarter with a 15-point lead, it looked like Mepham would cruise to a victory against cross-town rival Kennedy in last Friday’s Conference AA-III girls’ basketball matchup.

But Kennedy refused to go down without a fight, mounting a furious fourth-quarter comeback to trim the deficit to one. Just when it looked like they might pull off the improbable come-from-behind victory, the Lady Cougars were called for a late backcourt violation, which would ultimately be their downfall as Mepham held on by the skin of its teeth, 53-49, to keep its undefeated season alive.

“We were very sloppy defensively,” Mepham coach Jim Mulvey said. “We missed a lot of assignments. We didn’t break pressure well and we gave up a lot of uncontested shots.”

Junior Kristen O’Brien led the scoring for Mepham (12-0) with 22 points, and Kennedy senior Carly Thea led all scorers with 23.

“This was definitely a mental game from the start,” O’Brien said. “They beat us to every rebound and they beat us to every ball. But in the end, it’s about who wanted it more, and we came out on top.”

Mepham got off to a fast start, as O’Brien, sophomore Mary Galgano, sophomore Samantha Hishmeh and senior Jillian Picinich all hit three-point shots in the first quarter to give the Lady Pirates an eight-point lead. Kennedy (6-6) scored the first six points to begin the second quarter, but another trey by Galgano would begin a 7-0 run for Mepham, which ended the half with a 31-19 lead.

“We came out a little bit flat,” said Kennedy coach Debbie Cipolla-Minafo. “We were very intimidated.”

Kennedy tightened up the defense in the second half and held Mepham to 11 third-quarter points, but the Lady Cougars couldn’t find their rhythm offensively as they managed just eight points. At the end of the third, Mepham led 42-27.

In the fourth, Kennedy found a groove. It scored the first seven points of the quarter and later got back-to-back threes by Allie Keller to cut the margin to five. After a free throw by Kennedy senior Morgan Kitton, Thea followed with a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to cut the deficit to one.

“Once we picked up the intensity and started pressing, which we like to do, our girls relaxed, and got into the flow of the game,” Cipolla-Minafo said.

Kennedy then fouled Picinich, who hit the first free throw, but missed the second. Both teams fought for the loose ball, which eventually sailed out of bounds at mid-court in possession of Kennedy with six seconds left.  After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Kitton, who casually passed the ball back to Thea, who was standing just inches away. The problem, however, was that Thea was on the opposite side of halfcourt. 

A backcourt violation was called on Kennedy, and possession was returned to Mepham. Sophomore Nicole Castaldo hit a layup with three seconds left to ice the game. Castaldo chipped in 13 points, while Keller and Kitton also hit double-figures with 11 points apiece. O’Brien had 10 rebounds and five assists to go with her scoring. “She took the game over when we needed it,” said Mulvey of O’Brien.