By TONY BELLISSIMO
Senior Laura Rivera and junior Toni Ann Lawrence led a 10-point outburst in the final 3:34 to lift the fifth-seeded Lady Spartans to a come-from-behind 41-37 victory. Rivera scored eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of crucial three-pointers, while Lawrence, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds, converted a layup with 1:10 remaining to put the hosts ahead to stay.
"We're known to go through offensive droughts, and today was no exception," Elmont coach Tom Magno said. "It seemed like we missed a million shots in the first half, but the girls kept their heads up and kept working. When you have such a young team like we do, it's nice to experience a win like this."
The Lady Spartans, who advanced to face Syosset in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, after press time, stumbled into the playoffs on a four-game slide and didn't bring their 'A' game until it was almost too late. They were held to nine points in the first half and trailed by 10 at the break after Long Beach senior Jasmine Pitts drained a three-pointer to beat the buzzer.
"It was a hostile environment and I thought we did a great job in the first half to weather the storm," Lady Marines coach Lori DeVivio said. "We came into the game with a defensive-minded attitude and everything played into our hands. We knew they weren't going to sit back and let us cruise. Give Elmont credit. They stepped up when they had to."
Senior Peggy Connery's three-pointer with 2:35 left in the third quarter gave Long Beach, the Conference AA-IV champions, a 27-18 advantage. That's when Rivera raised her game. She sank a long jumper for her first three points of the day and hit a running layup on the next possession.
"Laura plays with a point guard's mentality," Magno said. "She looks to pass first and picks her spots to shoot. That first three-pointer gave her confidence to keep shooting."
As clutch as Rivera and Lawrence proved, it was sophomore Theresa Jones who scored Elmont's biggest basket. With the seconds ticking down in the third quarter, Jones stripped the ball from Pitts (game-high 20 points) and raced the length of the court for a layup at the buzzer to make it 31-26. "I thought the last play of the third quarter turned the momentum around," DeVivio said.
A free throw by Pitts put the Lady Marines up 37-31 a little more than halfway through the fourth, but it turned out to be their last point of a remarkable 16-win season. A desperation three-point attempt by Pitts that would have tied it with three seconds left rattled in and out.
Comments about this story? tbellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
