By:Brian T. Dessart
We had a timeout, said Levison, who finished with 19 points. [The coaches] said, ÔEither shoot a three and win it, or if you want ... get the ball and go.- So I got the ball and went.
The Lady Rocks found themselves in the same position a year ago, facing Oyster Bay in the finals at Hofstra. With that win, they advanced to the Southeast Regional/Long Island Championships and subsequently to the state finals.
Last Saturday, East Rockaway held Oyster Bay scoreless in the first 5:20, until Cindy Daub nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Daub followed up with another from the right side, and Samantha Nicastro sank a 2-pointer to tie the score at 8.
Oyster Bay-s late-first-quarter momentum continued in the second, as the Lady Baymen kept the Lady Rocks scoreless until Sarah D-Archangelis hit a 2-pointer on a pass from Melissa Gelb to break the ice with 1:35 left in the half. With just under a minute left, Levison-s 2-pointer inched East Rockaway within 2, 14-12.
I was in foul trouble, D-Archangelis said. I thought we needed to score to stay in the game we missed a lot of shots. Then we started to calm down a little.
With 22 seconds left in the third quarter, Levison-s basket pulled East Rockaway within 1, 26-25, but Oyster Bay still had the upper hand at the end of the quarter, 28-25.
The end of the third quarter was the turning point, Levison said. We got all pumped up.
It was obvious the adrenaline was surging through Brittany Fuller, whose 2-pointer with six minutes left and 3-pointer with 3:30 left pulled East Rockaway within 5, 39-34. Fuller was one of three Lady Rocks to hit from the 3-point arc in the quarter Levison and Jackie Marinazzo contributed as well.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, I thought we were more conditioned than them, said East Rockaway coach Karin Leary. Once Jackie hit that three we started hitting our shots we were finally going.
Gelb and Fuller finished with 13 points each, as did Oyster Bay-s Daub and Tillie Mirman.
East Rockaway will square off in the Class C Southeast Regional/Long Island Championships against Suffolk-s Center Moriches on March 9, at Stony Brook University, at 5 p.m.
