By:Brian T. Dessart
"She had the boost, absolutely," East Rockaway coach Karin Leary said of Levison. "She was on fire. Without a doubt she had that extra energy - she was ready."
And so was Levison's sidekick for the night, Brittany Fuller, who capitalized on 10 second quarter points and added an additional 10 in the third, contributing to a game-total 21.
Levison's fire became obvious early in the first quarter, as she bucketed two two-pointers in the initial 1:10 of play, and then added a deep three-pointer from the left side arc, followed by an additional three from dead center at 1:05. Levison's 14-point first quarter effort gave her East Rockaway squad a 17-8 lead at the buzzer.
"I got into a flow," said Levison, who finished the game with five threes. "The team was getting me the ball, and I was just hitting [the shots]."
Leary added: "As soon as we got into a little bit of a flow, in the middle of the first [quarter], I knew what we had going on," she said.
And the hot only got hotter, as the Levison-Fuller duo came out to strike in the second quarter. Levison's three-pointer from the left side at 7:35, followed by another 3:25 later, set up Fuller for an eight-point scoring spree in the quarter's final 3:00. The closest Cold Spring Harbor would come to Lady Rocks that quarter was at the 7:46 mark, as Kate Harrison's two-pointer moved her squad within seven, 17-10. But Harrison's six second quarter points wouldn't be enough, as East Rockaway took advantage of a 37-20 lead at the half.
Cold Spring Harbor's Chelsea Winkoff, who finished with 27 points, added nine points in the remaining 4:25 of the third quarter, including one three-pointer at 1:38. But Fuller's five two-pointers stood on their own scoring pedestal, as the Lady Rocks out shot the Lady Seahawks, 20-16.
Winkoff bucketed eight points in the fourth, while East Rockaway's Lindsay Rafferty dittoed.
The last time these two teams met, a year ago, Szczerbiak's 18 points were enough of a rocker-launcher to boost Cold Spring Harbor over East Rockaway, 53-39, despite Levison's 19-points. But this time, Levison was asked about her reaction to Szczerbiak's absence on the hardwood. She unselfishly responded: "We were a little disappointed," Levison said. "We wanted her in there, but we said we were going to play the same game, with or without her. I knew we would be able to win from the start," Levison continued, "but on the court you never know. Anything can happen at any time."
Levison and Fuller definitely proved that.
