Thursday, October 1, 2026
Freshman Gigi Faison scored a career-high 17 points, sophomore Kem Nwabudu added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Zhaneia Thybulle chipped in 11 points as top-seeded Elmont held off No. 8 Lynbrook, 58-47, in a Nassau Class A girls’ basketball quarterfinal playoff game on Feb. 17.
The Lady Spartans, winners of 38 of their last 40 games dating back to the start of last season, will battle second-seeded Floral Park for the county title this Saturday at LIU-Post at 11 a.m. Their lead over the Lady Owls was only two points with less than a minute to go in the third quarter, but the hosts slowly pulled away in the fourth.
Sophomore Sophia LoCicero (17), senior Amanda DiGiorgio (13) and junior Kerrin Montgomery (10) all scored in double figures for Lynbrook, which finished 16-5.
“There’s a rumor going around that we can’t shoot, but I’m not sure where that came from,” Elmont head coach Tom Magno said after his team won for the 20th time this season. “We can shoot pretty well and we showed that today. We gave up more points than we’re used to, but credit goes to them. We were concerned about some of the things they do really well.
“Survive and advance as they say,” he added.
Lynbrook didn’t make it easy on the Lady Spartans. The visitors led for much of the first half but trailed throughout the second. Faison hit a trey at the second-quarter buzzer to send Elmont into halftime with a 22-17 advantage.
“I thought we played well and did everything we wanted to do,” Lady Owls head coach Steve LoCicero said. “Everyone who stepped on the floor contributed. It was a great team effort.
“Elmont is very quick and plays great man-to-man defense,” he added. “Today they shot really well from the outside. I thought it was an excellent game.”
Nwabudu opened the scoring in the second half and the Lady Spartans were soon up by double digits after another Faison trey. The 3’s kept coming, with DiGiorgio, Elmont junior Kiera Holland, and LoCicero knocking them down on consecutive possessions, and Faison adding her third to answer a field goal by Lynbrook junior Emily Kluth.
Elmont led 35-29 when Montgomery was tagged with her fourth personal foul with 1:47 left in the third quarter. The Lady Owls got within 36-34 on DiGiorgio’s second trey and were still within striking distance, down five, heading into the fourth.
Montgomery, who avoided a fifth foul, was back on the court 90 seconds into the final quarter after Elmont stretched its lead to 47-38. However, the margin never got closer than seven.
“Elmont’s a strong second-half team, and I thought we showed a lot of resiliency and toughness at times when they’d normally put an opponent away,” LoCicero said.
Thybulle scored eight of her points in the second half. “Zhaneia does a lot out there,” Magno said. “She picks good times to do her scoring.”
