Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Massapequa girls’ basketball team has turned the corner heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
The Chiefs have won three games in a row, including a playoff-clinching 68-17 victory over Hicksville last Friday, and five of the last six games. The turnaround for Massapequa, which lost three of its first five games, was a change in philosophy.
“We’ve made a commitment over the last half of the season to play inside out and pound the ball inside and make that a stronger suit as we get into crunch time,” head coach Billy Herr said. “We’re feeling good and getting better every day, which is what you want as we head into February.”
The change came following a 39-36 loss to South Side on Dec. 28. As the calendar changed, so did the Chiefs’ playing style.
“We just saw some strengths there that we needed to capitalize on,” Herr said. “So we regrouped after the new year and have really made a commitment to putting in more sets for our forwards and attacking the basket.”
That change has especially affected the defensive side of the ball, where Massapequa (10-5, 6-1) leads Nassau Conference AAA with just 33.2 points allowed per game.
That number is even lower of late.
“When we came back from South Side, we all committed to keeping our opponents under 30 a game, and we’ve been well under that in January,” Herr said. “It’s been verbalizing it and just being more vocal about it and kind of speaking it into existence and making it noteworthy.”
Assistant coach Gennaro Trotta tracks all the pertinent defensive stats at practice — deflections, rebounds, blocks. And those who excel in those metrics have seen increased playing time in a month the Chiefs are allowing just 25.6 points per game.
That includes Molly Hoffman, a long and athletic sophomore who has partnered well with senior starter Savanna Appleton to defend the paint.
“She can hit a jump shot, but has helped on the defensive side as well,” Herr said. “When she and Appleton are in together, their length and wingspan create a lot of difficulty, not only in the paint but on the perimeter. She’s really stepped up offensively, and her confidence is soaring.”
The 6-foot-1 Appleton averages about 11 points per game and grabs double-digit rebounds on most nights. She’s also had four or more blocks in three of the last five games.
Senior Isabella Grosso has also elevated her game of late, utilizing her strength inside and her athleticism in transition.
The Chiefs are second in Nassau AAA behind Syosset. While the immediate focus is on each of the three games before that, the February 3 showdown at home against two-time reigning champions Syosset is special.
“That one has been marked on our calendar since last year,” Herr said. “We’re all sour about how we played against them last year and we got a lot of returners who want to turn that page and set the tone early and get that W on the 3rd.”
