Much-needed win for Lady Jets

East Meadow broke down Plainview-JFK’s defense in the first quarter to open up an early eight-point lead, then used its own aggressiveness to slow down the Lady Hawks in the fourth quarter of a 60-53 victory last Thursday night. “We needed a win,” coach Bethany LeSueur said. “We lost the last couple of games, and it’s been tough. We got a good amount of scoring from everyone and a lot of hustle plays.”

The hustle plays helped stave off Plainview, which cut a nine-point halftime deficit to six after three quarters with 22 points in the stanza. The Lady Jets defense, led by the three-guard attack of senior Melissa Cohen and juniors Cleary and Danielle Widmann, turned up the heat in the fourth quarter and forced several turnovers that led to easy baskets. “They hit a bunch of threes and we had to hang in there,” LeSueur said of the Lady Hawks third quarter push. “In the fourth quarter, we maintained [the pressure]. We had to stop the bleeding in the third quarter and stepped up the intensity.”

In building a 15-7 in the first quarter, the Lady Jets (6-6 overall, 3-4 in Conference AA-II) merely took advantage of what the Plainview defense was giving them. Rather than forcing the issue by shooting long-range threes to combat the zone defense, East Meadow’s guards passed over the top of it. Sophomore Jen Gundrum notched her first career double-double, scoring a team-high 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, taking advantage of the passing into the post. In establishing position down low, Gundrum also converted a pair of three-point plays after getting fouled in the act of shooting. “That was one of the best games I’ve ever seen her play,” LeSueur said.

Her points also helped take some of the pressure off of Cohen, the team’s leading scorer and distributor who had 10 points, including four free throws. “This game was nice,” LeSueur said. “She [Cohen] had three people guarding her, and she was able to kick it to someone else and set [them] up.”