Thursday, October 1, 2026
South Side girls basketball head coach Dan Ferrick doesn’t remember the last time his team won at Manhasset, but he knows it’s been a while.
Ferrick and the Cyclones won’t soon forget a 48-45 victory at Manhasset on Jan. 14.
That’s because Reese Long buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to secure that rare win.
With 2.2 seconds left and the score tied at 45, Ferrick drew up a play where star Ellie Lennon would be the decoy, Katelyn Mullen would inbound, and Long would run through a maze of players to take the final shot.
It worked to perfection, with Long knocking down the dramatic shot from the wing to finish with 12 points.
It was redemption for the junior, who missed a layup with 14 seconds left.
“I was just happy for the girls,” Ferrick said. “Our non-league schedule hadn’t gone as well as we wanted, but the girls have really been playing well.”
Long was the latest to step up in a big spot for a South Side team that is 8-4 overall and 7-0 in Conference AA-3.
“This has just been a very fun team,” Ferrick said. “They come to practice every day, work hard.”
The win over Manhasset was even sweeter because Ferrick had the full allotment of 11 players on his roster. For a variety of reasons — illness, injury, and bereavement — the Cyclones haven’t been full strength more often than not.
But they’ve been unified the entire season, especially to support a teammate whose father died unexpectedly.
“To overcome all this adversity is just a phenomenal thing, and it's just kind of matured them,” Ferrick said. “It’s 11 girls who can play, and they’re just a lovely group. I couldn't be happier with this group of girls.”
Lennon, a two-year captain who will play college basketball at Hartwick, has provided the leadership. She scored a team-high 17 points in a 53-28 win over Bethpage on January 16, her seventh game scoring in double figures.
Maddie Woo has been the defensive catalyst. The senior limited Manhasset’s Danielle Perfetto, who averages nearly 20 points per game, to just eight.
Defensive intensity has been the Cyclones' calling card all season, giving up just 38.3 points per game. In a 54-12 win over Clarke on January 8, the Rams scored the first basket of the game, and South Side responded with the next 41.
Mullen, a junior, is in her third year on varsity and can play multiple positions. Sophia Corvetti, who had a season-high 20 points in a 66-37 victory over Elmont on Dec. 12, is a threat to score at any moment and is one of seven sophomores on the roster.
Fellow sophomores Meredith Powers has been a force off the bench, and Kenzie Kasschau comes up with jaw-dropping plays.
“Our entire focus is no hiccups,” Ferrick said. “We like to get up and down the court, we want to score as many points as possible, and then we’re going to play defense, so we’re going to make you work.”
