By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Lady Falcons left knowing they gave everything they had.
Meghan Biondolillo's layup with one minute remaining in the fourth quarter lifted undefeated Island Trees (19-0) to the narrowest of victories, 34-32, allowing it to advance to the semifinals to face South Side. Top seeded and defending champion Wantagh and Floral Park round out the Final Four.
"We didn't lose because of a lack of effort, that's for sure," Lady Falcons coach Deirdre Gordon said. "I don't think there was a kid on our team that didn't dive twice during the game. We had a plan and stuck to it. We felt we could win and we came as close as you can without winning."
Island Trees, which barely got past Great Neck South in the first round, was fortunate the rims were unfriendly to 10th-seeded Valley Stream South. Junior Daniela Owusu led South with 18 points and senior Katie Hicks added eight points and 14 rebounds.
It was the defensive work of Hicks and senior Jill Moran on Island Trees center Katie Tolan that kept the visitors close the whole way. Tolan's eight points and 11 rebounds were well below her season averages in both categories. "Katie did a great job-I was impressed," Gordon said. "For her to out-rebound Tolan was outstanding. They have such a big frontcourt. Holding them to 34 points was some accomplishment."
The Lady Bulldogs managed only two points in the second quarter as VSS rallied to pull even at the half, 14-14. "We hadn't faced a 1-3-1 defense all season long and we didn't get many second chances," Gordon said. "The only thing I thought we could have done better was outside shooting."
South (13-7) shot the lights out in its 60-51 first-round playoff win against No. 7 Westbury last Wednesday. Hicks and junior Victoria Owusu netted 15 points apiece, Daniela Owusu added 12 and sophomore Kaitlyn Gillespie had nine. "We played very well," Gordon said. "Even though we were on the road I didn't feel like we were the underdog. We beat Westbury in the first game of the season so I liked our chances."
The Lady Falcons went 8-4 in Conference III and won their last three regular-season games, beating Roslyn, Manhasset and Hewlett. Daniela Owusu, an All-County candidate, totaled 71 points in the victories. Hicks dominated against Hewlett with 21 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals.
