By:TONY BELLISSIMO
A tremendous season for the Valley Stream South girls basketball team came to an end with a 46-33 loss at New Hyde Park in last Saturday's Nassau Class B quarterfinal playoff game.
The sixth-seeded Lady Falcons, who eliminated MacArthur in the first round, stayed close throughout but saw the third-seeded Gladiators pull away down the stretch. Lisa Karcic had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the winners. Careem Gay led South with 12 points.
"It was the third time they beat us this season, so I guess there's no question they're the better team," South coach Jack Simes said. "But it doesn't take away from the great season we had. The girls did an excellent job. I don't think anyone expected us to win as many games as we did because our roster was full of underclassmen."
The Lady Falcons finished 14-6 overall and will definitely be heard from next season. Only senior forward Sam Capone departs.
"We gave New Hyde Park a run for its money," Simes said. "We were in it until late in the fourth quarter. We took some chances late and it led to some easy baskets for them. We made some runs but they never let us turn the corner."
The Gladiators held South's leading offensive threats Eileen Flood and Jen Cully to a combined 14 points. Flood and Cully, both juniors, had outstanding seasons, averaging 15 and 13 points per game, respectively.
"Both teams had good defensive game plans," Simes said. "We played a box-and-one on Karcic and we stopped her at times. She scored over 30 points the last time we met."
South advanced to the quarterfinals with an exciting 42-37 home victory over No. 11 MacArthur in the first round. Stephanie Guarnerie hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining to provide the difference. Flood stole the ball on the Generals' next possession and connected on a pair of free throws after she was fouled. Cully had 14 points, while junior point guard Kristen O'Leary returned from a late-season injury and had five assists.
"It was a nice win against a solid team," Simes said. "We knew they liked to shoot from the outside but they didn't have such a great shooting night against us."
Wantagh sweeps South
Facing the same team for a third time this season didn't prove to be a charm for the Valley Stream South boys basketball team. The Falcons, who reached the playoffs for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign, were eliminated by Wantagh in the first round of the Class B tournament 51-47. The Warriors also beat South (13-6 overall) twice during the regular season.
"It was a slugfest. We played well in the first half and we played well defensively in the third quarter," South coach Dom Fontana said. "We didn't take advantage of their mistakes in the third and it came back to hurt us."
The Falcons led 25-24 at the half but failed to capitalize on their strong defensive performance in the third when they held Wantagh to seven points. It was 31-31 heading into the fourth. The Warriors scored the first three baskets of the final quarter and never looked back.
"Those six points really got their crowd going," Fontana said. "We kept coming at them but eventually we ran out of time."
Senior Donovan Neita, a second-team All-County selection, led the Falcons with 17 points. All-Conference seniors Michael McAdam and Jonte Lewis-Johnson finished with 14 and five points, respectively. "We put the program back on the map this season and it's hard to be displeased," Fontana said. "Now we have to build on the fine season we had."
