By ANDREW McCLURE
That’s one of the clichés that’s inevitably uttered when the playoffs come around in any sport.
Fourth-seeded Elmont lent credence to the phrase by knocking off visiting Uniondale, 54-46, in the quarterfinal round of the Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs. Junior Jasmine Cobbs had 18 points and senior Toni Ann Lawrence added 15 to lead Elmont, which lost to the Lady Knights twice during the regular season. Fifth-seeded Uniondale was paced by point guard Ifeanyi Ofili’s 14 points.
Elmont coach Tom Magno was a little surprised by the offensive output since both regular-season games were low-scoring affairs. “We barely scored 30 in the entire game last time we played,” Magno said. “We don’t play the prettiest basketball. We grind it out and wreak havoc. Our girls did some nice things today to get the win.”
The playoff game was different from the first two matchups. Both teams came out running and gunning. The Lady Knights took an 18-17 after the first quarter. Lawrence scored eight points in the quarter for Elmont.
The teams traded baskets for most of the second quarter, but Elmont took over during the last two minutes and Uniondale never recovered. With guards Reauna Dorner and Teresa Jones applying pressure all over the floor on defense, the Lady Spartans forced numerous turnovers. The result was an 8-0 run to close out the first half that gave Elmont a 33-27 lead at the break.
Lawrence picked up her third foul early in the third quarter and went to the bench. With its top scorer sitting, Dorner (12 points, three assists) and Cobbs attacked the basket and found their way to the free-throw line. Eight of Cobbs’ points came from the line. The Lady Spartans also got six points from senior Agbogo Kalu.
Elmont held the lead for the entire second half, but had trouble closing out the game, taking a few ill-advised shots and turning the ball over. Uniondale cut the lead to five with 43 seconds remaining. Magno thinks asking his girls to take time off the clock and slow down might be the wrong strategy. “We play aggressive defensive and always look to run,” he said. “Maybe it’s better we just continue to do what we do best and forget slowing things down.”
Elmont advanced to face top-seeded Syosset in the semifinals on Tuesday evening, after press time, at C.W. Post. The other semifinal featured Calhoun against Massapequa. The Class AA title game is Saturday at 4:15 p.m., also at Post.
Elmont boys suffer upset loss
It was a one and done for the Elmont boys as the sixth-seeded Spartans were upset by No. 11 Great Neck South, 54-52, in a Class AA first-round game. Senior swingman Nachbi Lacossiere scored 13 points and senior Nikita Josephs added 10 to lead the host Spartans, who finished 8-11 on the season.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@
liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
