Bayside Girls Basketball Edges Norman Thomas, 55-54, In First Round Of Playoffs

It wasn’t pretty, but Bayside High School was able to overcome a 9:39 scoring drought, including the entire third period, to squeak by Norman Thomas, 55-54, Friday night at home in the first round of the PSAL girls A basketball playoffs.

Leading 39-30 in the third quarter, Lady Commodores head coach Stephen Piorkowski replaced all of his five starters midway through the period because, he said, they weren’t executing the designed plays the way they’ve practiced them.

Exposing Bayside’s subs, the 18th-seeded Lady Tigers were able to claw their way back into the game, eventually taking a 41-39 advantage with 12.7 remaining in the third quarter. With the Lady Commodores’ starting five back in, Norman Thomas increased its lead to 48-41 with 6:18 left in the contest.

However, 15-seeded Bayside chipped away at the deficit until it tied the score at 51-51 with a little over two minutes left in the tilt. But the Lady Tigers refused to go away quietly, reclaiming the lead twice in the final minutes before the Lady Commodores were able to secure the victory in the closing seconds.

Hero:

Syndy Durugordon led Bayside with 16 points, draining several vital baskets down the stretch, including the go-ahead bucket with approximately 43 seconds remaining in the contest.

Lady Tigers Pauline Phipps scored a game-high 18 points in the losing effort.

Turning Point:

With the Lady Commodores clinging to a one-point cushion with 12.6 ticks on the clock, Norman Thomas missed the first foul shot, and then the refs called them for a lane violation on the second attempt, giving the ball back to the home team.

But Bayside turned the ball over with 6.5 left in the game, giving the Lady Tigers one more shot at redemption. Fortunately for the Lady Commodores, the outside shot missed its mark, enabling them to dribble another day.

Bottom Line:

Although playing time was limited for Bayside’s starters, they were in the game long enough to be the deciding factor, especially on the broads.

Quotable:

Piorkowski expects his players to play the way they practice. If not, he doesn’t have any a problem with removing them from the game, something he’s preached all season long.

"They didn't do what we practice," Piorkowski explained. "There’s no point in playing if you’re not going to do what we practice. If you don’t do what we practice, you don’t deserve to play."

Who’s Next?

The Lady Commodores travel to second seed Leon M. Goldstein High School in Brooklyn on March 4th  at 4:30 p.m. for round two of the playoffs.