Bruins Take It to Lady Pirates, 69-30

The 1-8 Mepham girls basketball team traveled to face the 7-1 Baldwin team on their home court Friday night.

Mepham, who has been plagued by injuries, needs to start getting girls back and play a couple of games together to find some sort of chemistry to take into the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately tonight the story was more of the same, the Bruins pressuring defense was to much as the Lady Pirates lost 69-30.

The fast half saw a fast paced transition game, with pressure coming from both sides. The Lady Pirates seemed to be making some bad choices and falling right in to the defenses trap.The Bruins had stolen several passes that lead to uncontested lay-ups giving them a commanding 37-13 lead by the half. Although the Lady Pirates did have some moments were it seemed they were starting to come together.

When the Lady Pirates were able to slow the game down, it almost always lead to points. Baldwin running a zone defense was air tight until Mepham started working as a team and made some great plays off of good passing.

"We did okay against their pressure, but they had some good players that could take it away," said Lady Pirates Coach Jim Mulvey

Kristen O'Brien, the lone veteran player back from the injured list, had another solid game highlighted by some great defensive play. Early in the first period, O'Brien had two blocks and a rebound in a matter of six seconds.

Another player who made a difference for the Pirates was junior Kaitlin Bazarewski. Coming in off the bench and scoring multiple times and making some good decisions on defense. 

"Bazz played well in the zone. she knew were to be," said Coach Mulvey.

Baldwin played as expected, as any powerhouse in the conference should. The Bruins were lead by skilled play from point guard Alex Hampton, who finished with nine points.

"Alex is having a tremendous year, she's one of the best players in the county as far as I'm concerned," said Baldwin coach Tom Catapano.

The younger players have to learn quickly in an atmosphere that they haven't seen much of. Freshman Mary Galgano gave the crowd a glimpse into the type of play Coach Mulvey needs to bring Mepham back to its winning ways when she hit two three point shots on two consecutive possessions.

"The girls need to grow up quick and so far, it's not really happening," said Mulvey.

The Lady Pirates fall to 1-9 in conference, but look like they're starting to make improvements. Keep up with the Lady Pirates as they travel again to Farmingdale on Friday, Feb. 5, at 5 p.m.