Mepham rallies to beat Elmont

A defensive adjustment at halftime and a dominant third quarter led by junior Makayla Daube and senior Grace Glynn spurred No. 9 Mepham to a come-from-behind 51-41 victory at eighth-seeded Elmont Friday in a Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball first-round playoff matchup.

Daube had a game-high 19 points and game-high 22 rebounds and was instrumental during a 16-point run by the Pirates that began with senior point guard Ashley Felsberg’s basket just before halftime and included more than half of Glynn’s season-high 14 points in a third quarter that saw the Spartans held scoreless.

“This was such an incredible team effort,” said Daube, who had 11 fourth-quarter points to help Mepham (12-9) protect the lead. “We’ve had some good wins this season, but not in this type of environment with so much at stake. I’m really proud of everyone.”

The Pirates, who trailed Elmont by as many as nine in the first half, advance to face top-seeded and defending county Class A champion Manhasset in the quarterfinals Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. Felsberg had 10 points and senior Briann Frier sank a pair of threes in the first quarter.

“We switched from zone to man after halftime and got results,” Mepham head coach Jim Mulvey said. “Elmont shot the lights out in the first half and we had to make an adjustment.

“Makayla put us on her back in the second half, Grace played off the charts, Ashley hit some big shots and got everyone the ball, Brianna kept us close in the first quarter and Sophia [Beck] worked tirelessly on defense,” he added. “This is a tough gym for a visiting team to win in.”

Junior Charlotte Hines paced the Spartans (14-7) with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Sophia Manchoon hit for 9 points, all from behind the arc, and juniors Kyla Moore and Kaitlyn Paulino added 8 and 7 points, respectively.

“All season we were looking forward to getting to this point and advancing, but we just didn’t play with the poise and patience we needed to in the second half,” Elmont head coach Pete Lawson said. “We rushed a lot of shots and Mepham did a great job on the boards. Once they made their run, we got away from what got us there. It became a domino effect.”

It was only the second defeat in 12 home games for the Spartans, who had control early thanks to the hot hands of Manchoon and Hines. They combined for all but two of Elmont’s opening-quarter points as it built a 19-11 lead.

Daube, who was limited to a free throw in the first, scored seven points in the second but the Pirates still trailed 28-22 at intermission.

The tide turned dramatically after halftime. The Spartans were unable to find the bottom of the net in the third quarter and were outscored 14-0. Mepham’s largest lead was 11 early in the fourth.

“As we kept falling further and further behind, we tried to get it back all at once instead of running our offensive sets,” Lawson said. “We were out of sync and they were rolling.”