By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Lady Bruins brought a five-game winning streak to town but had a rough shooting night (11-for-55) in their first loss in more than two weeks. Juniors Ashley Castanio (14), Sammy Ray (14) and Lauren Schlitt (10) all scored in double figures to lead the Lady Sailors, who improved to 7-2 in conference play and 12-3 overall.
“It was one of our best games of the season,” Oceanside coach Harvey Pyser said. “Baldwin’s the kind of team that can hurt you inside and outside. I expected it to come down to the wire.”
Shayna Gatling scored a game-high 17 points for Baldwin, which averaged 64.8 points during its winning streak but just 38.5 in two losses to Oceanside. The Lady Sailors won the first meeting on Dec. 23, 35-32. “We’re up and down,” Lady Bruins coach Tara Graf said. “We were on a roll there for a while and scoring a lot. But today we didn’t play well or shoot well, and I thought they played very well."
Both teams struggled offensively in the opening quarter before heating up. The Lady Bruins built a 16-10 lead midway through the second after Amanda Rittmeier and Brianna Selesky sank three-pointers and Gatling converted a putback. Oceanside stayed close and trailed by just a point at halftime thanks to the perimeter work of Schlitt, who drained a couple of threes and set up a basket by Ray, and a pair of key baskets by junior Helen Fields.
After Gatling and Ray traded baskets to open the second half, senior Meghan McLaughlin put the hosts ahead for good and ignited a 14-4 momentum-changing spurt. Castanio was instrumental in the run, scoring six points, ripping down three rebounds and drawing two fouls on Gatling.
"This game was as important as any we played all season because it puts us in second place behind Mepham," said McLaughlin, who had seven points.
Trailing 36-27, Baldwin inched back on a three-pointer by Alex Hampton at the end of the third quarter and a free throw by Gatling to start the fourth. Ray accounted for six points during an 11-4 outburst that put the Lady Sailors up by 12 with 2:55 remaining, but it was back to a one-possession game when Castanio hit two free throws with 24.2 seconds to go.
"Everyone contributed to this win," Pyser said. "Even the girls that didn't get on the court played an important role because of what they did in practice. They simulated Baldwin's press and we spent a lot of time breaking it down."
Oceanside returns to action this Friday when it travels to Freeport for a 4:30 p.m. start.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@
liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
