Manhasset fans and supporters gathered in anticipation of a fierce semi-final first round playoff game. The Manhasset High School girls varsity basketball team had the home field advantage on Friday night, Feb. 16, as they faced off against Plainedge High School. Both teams ranked highly in their conference.
Manhasset came out hot in the first quarter, scoring the first basket of the game and continuing to dominate throughout the quarter with points from Emma LoPinto, Caroline Kelly and Maria Themelis. Plainedge scored just four points from Lauren Krystall and Ashley Lindsay. After the first quarter, Manhasset was on top 5-4.
In the second quarter, Plainedge seemed to wake up and quickly scored a few points which propelled them into the lead, ending the first half of the game with the Indians trailing by two points for a score of 19-17. Points were sored by Lo Pinto, Themelis, Kelly, Kelly Trotta and Julia Baker.
By the third quarter, the Red Devils sizzled and scored 23 points by McSweeney, Krystall, Lindsay and Juliana Keenan. The Indians fought valiantly for 13 points scored by Lo Pinto, Kelly, Grace Gately and Trotta to end the quarter behind, 42-30.
The fourth quarter came to an end with Plainedge scoring 13 more points and Manhasset another 12 with a last second basket from LoPinto for a final score of 55-42.
“We had a tremendous season finishing as conference champions with a league record of 12-0 and an overall record of 18-1 (having only lost the first game of the season),” said Coach Lauren Sadeh. “We were disappointed when we found out we got the #8 seed, knowing it would put us in the middle of the pack and most likely set us up for a very tough first round matchup… and that’s exactly what we got having to play Plainedge. We knew they too had a very successful season and were a very tall and strong team. N
onetheless, I had no doubts about our team matching their intensity and physicality. We were only down two going into halftime and historically the third quarter had been our strongest quarter this season, so we never lacked confidence. Unfortunately, this was the one game that we did not come out of halftime as strong as we hoped, getting outscored 23-13 and that ended up being the difference in the game. However, losing this game does not take anything away from the unbelievable season these 13 amazing student athletes put together this year. Coach Christina Marra and I feel more than lucky to have been able to coach such a special group of passionate, selfless, hard working girls, and we look forward to what the next few seasons have to bring us with 11 of our 13 players returning next year.”
Manhasset girls varsity basketball team had an overall record of 18-2 to complete their season.
