WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW: GIRLS HOOPS: SUFFOLK BREAKDOWN
Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 25 Dec 2011
Copiague made a surprising run to the semifinals last season and has just two seniors with point guard Domyae Ivory-Byrd and guard/forward Cypher McCloud. Junior Tracey McFadden will play a key role as well as freshman guard Ihnacinse Grady and eighth grader guard/forward Mikaiya Moore.
Hauppauge, which reached the playoff last season for the first time in 15 years, has nine seniors from a team that upset Lindenhurst in the first round. Junior guard Julie Williams averaged 19.8 points and the senior backcourt of Lindsay Alfano and Lauren Descalzo is strong.
Longwood went 2-12 last season and should see a major improvement with an athletic and fast team led by sophomore Kiery West and senior guard/forward Aliyah Blake.
Longwood 59, Bay Shore 25: Kiery West had 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Aluyah Blake had eight of her 11 points in the second quarter for Longwood in non-league. LW: Blake 11, Ruiz 9, Holmes 3, Arizaga 1, Hinton 9, DeSouza 2, West 15, Bowlay-Williams 9. Totals: 21-12-59. BS: Cox 5, Taffart 9, Schobert 3, Bocchieri 8. Totals: 8-7-25. Three-pointers: LW 5 (Blake 3, Ruiz, Holmes); BS 2 (Cox, Taffart). Dec. 10
Deer Park 12 12 12 21-57
Longwood 6 16 14 17-53
DP: Locker 14, Fischer 6, Gomez 5, Desvignes 13, Cammarata 2, Giessen 8, Dillon 8, Grunseich 1. Totals: 17-17-57. LW: Ruiz 12, Holmes 5, Blake 3, West 19, Hinton 1, DeSouza 7, Arizaga 2, Bowlay-Williams 4. Totals: 17-16-53. Three-pointers: DP 6 (Locker 3, Fischer, Gomez, Desvignes); LW 3 (Ruiz, Holmes, Blake). Dec. 14
Longwood 37, Patchogue-Medford 35: Kiery West (12 points, 11 rebounds) hit a free throw with six seconds left to give Longwood a 37-33 lead in League I. Sade Holmes added nine points and four steals. LW: Holmes 9, Ruiz 4, West 12, Hinton 2, Bowlay-Williams 6, Blake 4. Totals: 10-15-37. PM: Ferrante 3, Murray 8, Yaeger 4, Sergio 10, Berwick 2, Gordon 7, Minicozzi 1. Totals: 14-4-35. Threes: LW 2 (Holmes 2); PM 3 (Ferrante, Murray, Yaeger). Dec. 21
Longwood 50, Kings Park 45: Makeda DeSouza (10 points) hit two free throws with 24 seconds left to give Longwood a 49-45 lead in the consolation game of the Suffolk Shootout Tournament. Kiery West had a team-high 13 points and 11 rebounds. – Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 31 Dec 2011:
Werbitsky clutch Basket in final seconds forces OT for Harborfields Five of her 15 points are in OT; O’Connor scores 19
CREPEA, JAMES. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 30 Dec 2011
Amy Werbitsky already had taken care of the difficult part. The Harborfields junior made the game-tying basket in the closing seconds of regulation, and then found herself standing at the free-throw line with a chance to increase the Tornadoes’ overtime lead.
“I was thinking what we do during practice and how much I practice and how much I know that I can make this,” Werbitsky said of her free-throw attempts. She made one of two with 16 seconds remaining in overtime.
Senior Alexia O’Connor had a career-high 19 points and Werbitsky had five of her career-high 15 points in overtime as Harborfields rallied to beat Longwood, 61-58, yesterday in the first round of the Suffolk Shootout at Northport.
Harborfields plays host Northport in the final today at 3 p.m.
Harborfields trailed 54-52 with 9.7 seconds left in regulation when O’Connor raced upcourt and dished the ball to Werbitsky at the top of the key. The 5-10 forward made a move toward the basket and tried to draw contact as she went up and scored to tie it at 54 with 3.4 seconds left.
“I thought that since the ball came to me I have to do what I was taught and be strong and draw the foul,” said Werbitsky, who also had eight rebounds. “I didn’t get the foul but I finished so it paid off . . . It felt amazing but we did it as a team and it wasn’t just one possession.”
O’Connor also had eight assists and six rebounds, fouling out 19 seconds into overtime. Harborfields (6-0) persevered in overtime without O’Connor, Kasey Stolba (10 points), who also fouled out, and Bridgit Ryan, who is recovering from an ankle injury.
The game was extremely competitive, with 12 lead changes and 10 ties. Kiersten West had 14 points, Tiffany Ruiz added 13 and Sade Holmes and Makeda DeSouza each had 12 for Longwood (2-2).
Tigers roll. Northport defeated Kings Park, 56-41, in the other first-round game. Allie Clarke had 21 points for the Tigers (2-2), who trailed 34-33 after three quarters but outscored Kings Park 23-7 in the fourth. Kings Park (6-1) and Longwood play in the consolation game today at 1 p.m.
SCORECARD
HARBORFIELDS 61
LONGWOOD 58
Longwood 42, Sachem North 37: Kiery West had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Aliyah Blake had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Longwood (3-0) in League I. – Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 06 Jan 2012:
Harborfields 8 18 11 17 7- 61
Longwood 9 15 17 13 4- 58
HAR: Stolba 10, Werbitsky 15, Kelly 2, Luxemberg 4, Luxemberg 6, O’Connor 19, White 3, Tane 2. Totals: 25-10-61. LW: Ruiz 13, Holmes 12, West 14, Hinton 3, DeSouza 12, Bowlay-Williams 4. Totals: 18-19-58. Three-pointers: HAR 1 (Stolba); LW 3 (Ruiz 2, Holmes). Dec. 30
Longwood 12 11 12 15-50
Kings Park 11 14 8 12-45
Makeda DeSouza (10 points) hit two free throws with 24 seconds left to give Longwood a 49-45 lead in the consolation game of the Suffolk Shootout Tournament. Kiery West had a team-high 13 points and 11 rebounds. LW: Ruiz 6, Holmes 8, Blake 10, West 13, Hinton 2, DeSouza 10, Bowlay-Williams 1. Totals: 14-19-50. KIP: Ahern 3, Picciano 9, Buoncore 8, Buoncore 2, Duffel 2, O’Connell 1, Mueller 6, Ranalli 2, Santoli 8, Stephens 4. Totals: 14-15-45. Three-pointers: LW 3 (Ruiz, Holmes, Blake); KIP 2 (Ahern, Picciano). Dec. 31
Longwood 42, Sachem North 37: Kiery West had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Aliyah Blake had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Longwood (3-0) in League I. Jan. 6
Longwood 12 2 15 24-53
Commack 12 7 12 13-44
LW: Holmes 12, Hinton 2, West 16, Bowlay-Williams 2, Ruiz 8, Blake 5, DeSouza 8. Totals: 17-17-53. COM: Lane 9, Botticelli 4, Haller 4, Lobaccaro 11, Mellon 10, Schultz 2, Storck 4. Totals: 12-19-44. Threes: LW 2 (Holmes 2); COM 1 (Lane). Jan. 12
Longwood 10 14 12 17-53
Brentwood 3 3 16 15-37
LW: West 16, Blake 5, Ruiz 7, Hinton 2, DeSouza 19, Bowlay-Williams 2, Holmes 2. Totals: 15-19-53. BRN: Goode 19, Jones 2, Brown 3, Douglas 6, Farquharson 1, Hernandez 4, Jenkins 1, Acevedo 1. Totals: 11-14-37. Three-pointers: LW 4 (West 2, Blake, Ruiz); BRN 1 (Goode). Jan. 13
Sachem East 20 18 16 4-58
Longwood 6 5 7 14-32
SAE: Doherty 22, McKeveny 3, Everson 12, Drake 4, Drake 3, Doherty 12, Carmel 2. Totals: 23-7-58. LW: DeSouza 14, Holmes 3, Arizaga 1, Hinton 4, Ruiz 4, West 6. Totals: 11-8-32. Threes: SAE 5 (Doherty 4, McKeveny); LW 2 (DeSouza, Holmes). Jan. 19
Ward Melville 15 12 10 14-51
Longwood 8 7 9 12-36
WM: Cohen 30, Pryor 1, O’Hern 2, Murtagh 8, Lombardo 6, Fathi 2, Dennis 2. Totals: 19-12-51. LW: Bowlay-Williams 1, DeSouza 2, Hinton 2, Holmes 6, Ruiz 7, West 18. Totals: 12-12-36. Threes: WM 1 (Cohen). Jan. 20
Patchogue-Medford 12 12 17 13-54
Longwood 4 9 13 10-36
PM: Minicozzi 12, Murray 13, Yaeger 10, Sergio 4, Romano 2, Murray 2, Ferrante 2, Minicozzi 1, Merckling 2, Gordon 4, Berwick 2. Totals: 22-6-54. LW: Ruiz 13, Gazzola 6, Bowlay-Williams 3, DeSouza 6, Hinton 5, Holmes 3. Totals: 13-6-36. Three-pointers: PM 4 (Minicozzi 2, Murray, Yaeger); LW 4 (Ruiz 3, Gazzola). Jan. 25
ROUNDUP: Gazzola’s shot lifts Longwood
Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 29 Jan 2012:
Nicole Gazzola hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Longwood a 40-38 win over Floyd in Suffolk League I girls basketball yesterday. Kiery West had 12 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks for Longwood (6-3). LW: West 12, Ruiz 7, Bowlay-Williams 1, DeSouza 4, Gazzola 8, Holmes 9. Totals: 15-8-41. FL: Ritter 3, Outsen 3, Outsen 2, Murphy 13, Houpe 15, Galani 2. Totals: 13-11-38. Three-pointers: LW 3 (West 2, Ruiz); FL 1 (Ritter).
Longwood 46, Commack 41: Nicole Gazzola had all five of her points in overtime, including a jumper with 1:35 left to put Longwood (8-3) up 45-41 in League I. Commack’s Chelsea Schultz hit a jumper at the buzzer to send the game into OT. Longwood‘s Kiery West had 12 points and 15 rebounds. LW: Holmes 7, Ruiz 9, Bowlay-Williams 6, DeSouza 7, Gazzola 5, West 12. Totals: 18-8-46. COM: Botticelli 7, Storck 15, Schultz 2, Mellon 7, Lobaccaro 2, Lane 6, Haller 2. Totals: 16-7-41. Threes: LW 2 (Holmes, Ruiz); COM 2 (Botticelli, Storck). Feb. 4
Longwood 12 9 12 10-43
Brentwood 5 6 8 8-27
LW: DeSouza 12, Gazzola 3, Ruiz 8, West 10, Hinton 5, Holmes 5. Total: 14-11-43. BRN: Douglas 6, Jones 2, Goode 12, Farquharson 1, Ellis 2, DiMaria 2, Young 2. Total: 10-6-27. Threes: LW 4 (DeSouza, Gazzola, Ruiz, West); BRN 1 (Douglas). Feb. 8
Sachem East 18 16 19 9-62
Longwood 8 3 6 7-24
SAE: Schretzman 10, Doherty 12, Carmel 3, Doherty 20, Everson 10, Drake 4, Drake 3. Totals: 25-5-62. LW: Arizaga 3, DeSouza 2, Holmes 2, Ruiz 6, West 11. Totals: 10-4-24. Threes: SAE 7 (Schretzman 3, Doherty 2, Carmel, Doherty); Feb. 10
Ward Melville 4 11 6 14-35
Longwood 6 8 11 4-29
WM: Cohen 17, Pryor 1, O’Hern 2, Murtagh 6, Lombardo 3, Gorman 2, Geiger 2, Scarfogliero 2. Total: 12-11-35. LW: Gazzola 3, Arizaga 2, DeSouza 2, Hinton 2, Holmes 1, Ruiz 6, West 13. Total: 13-2-29. Threes: LW 1 (Gazzola). Feb. 15
Floyd 11 11 14 14-50
Longwood 7 13 7 5-32
FL: Andersen 10, Ross 7, Bliss 1, Murphy 11, Outsen 2, Walker 15, Williams 2. Totals: 19-7-48. LW: Garrahan 9, Gazzola 3, Blake 1, West 2, Mayo 3, Keller 1, Kalbfleisch 4, Holmes 3, Eggers 2, Desouza 1, Williams 3. Totals: 8-12-32. Three-pointers: FL 3 (Andersen 2, Ross); LW 4 (Garrahan 3, Gazzola). Feb. 16