By STEVE SINISKI
in the quarterfinals of the Nassau County Class AA playoffs on Feb. 21.
The sophomore iced the game by converting all six of her free throws in the final 30 seconds on the way to a career-high 36 points.
"She's our leading scorer and our go-to player," Coach June Spruyt said. "If she has a good game, a lot of the other [Lady Colts] will follow."
Calhoun (16-3 overall) advanced to the semifinals against top-seeded Massapequa (19-0) last Tuesday. The Lady Chiefs knocked Calhoun out of last season's playoffs in the quarterfinal round.
What shouldn't get lost in the shuffle of the quarterfinal win, but
definitely doesn't appear in the box score, were two late steals by
junior Cayla Grodotzke (eight points, nine rebounds, four steals)
that prevented the Lady Braves from getting any closer than four
points in the final two minutes. The first occurred under the Calhoun
basket after Syosset called a timeout with 1:56 remaining, hoping to
design a play to trim a 56-50 deficit. The second was a pure
hustle play by Grodotzke with 45 seconds left. She raced down court after her own missed shot and picked off a Lady Braves pass just past half-court. A 46-43 game heading into the final eight minutes,
Calhoun's defense led an 18-9 charge for the final 12-point margin of
victory.
"Cayla [Grodotzke] is the type of player that's always looking for [steals]," Spruyt said. "She doesn't give up and is relentless. She fights to the end."
If the first and fourth quarters belonged to Vasquez, who totaled 11 rebounds to go along with her career-best point total, the third
quarter was in the able hands of Jazmin Fuller. The junior scored six
of her 12 points in the frame and set up Vazquez with a pair of
assists. She had a hand in five of the Lady Colts' six baskets.
"When she's on she's on, and I guess she was feeling it," Spruyt said.
Scarlett Johannson paced the Calhoun attack in the second quarter, scoring all six of her points. She added four boards and three steals in the quarter, finishing with nine rebounds in all.
The biggest threats to the Lady Colts were Syoseet's Christine Banos and Connie Simmons. In the regular season meeting, Simmons made a living at the line, converting 18 of 19 free throws and scoring 32 points in a game Calhoun won, 75-71. This time around, she was never able to find her groove because of the Calhoun defense and scored 18 points. Banos, on the other hand, carried the Lady Braves with 23 points and caught fire in the second and third quarters, scoring a combined 16 of her team's 26 points. She drained five shots from behind the arc. Erin McCutchan came off the bench to defend Banos over the final quarter and limited the Syosset sophomore to just four points, all on free throws.
"[Syosset] does a good job of cutting and flashing," Spruyt
said. "And we wanted to focus on stopping the cutters and playing
good help defense."
