Massapequa Nearly Doubles Up Injured Lady Pirates

Despite 17 points from sophomore point guard Kristen O'Brien, the injury-depleted Mepham Lady Pirates were crushed by the Massapequa Chiefs by a score of 56-29 on Saturday. The Lady Pirates were without several starters, including seniors Lauren Johnson and Alex Leung.    

The loss was the Lady Pirates' fourth in a row, dropping the team to 3-7 on the season and 2-3 at home. The Lady Pirates have been outscored 481-404 on the season. The team's best chance to win a game this month is probably their next game on Wednesday at the 4-5 MacArthur Generals before they face a string of teams over the .500 mark. The Lady Pirates got off to a rough start in the first quarter with the Chiefs using their size to get past Mepham's swarming 2-3 zone defense. Unable to stop entry passes into the paint, the Lady Pirates gave up five first quarter points under the basket to Massapequa forward Lauren Mosca, fouling her on consecutive possessions.

"Unfortunately, they're injured," said Massapequa Coach Shari Roessler when asked what led to such a dominant performance by the Chiefs. "We shot well, passed really well... a lot of people had open looks."

Massapequa guard Casey Bartels squashed any early hopes the Lady Pirates might have had of staying in the game, hitting a long three to put the Chiefs up 10-3. Mepham Coach Jim Mulvey called a timeout to focus his team, but the Chiefs continued to roll over the Lady Pirates and were up 28-9 at the half. O'Brien, an All County player last year, scored 17 points for Mepham without once hitting a two-point field goal, draining three three-pointers and getting to the free throw line consistently to hit eight foul shots.    

"O'Brien is just a great player," said Roessler. "I really think the world of her."

Mulvey also praised his point guard.

"[O'Brien]'s a total leader," he said. "She can take any open shot she gets.  She's an unselfish player."

O'Brien and fellow guard Mary Galgano, a freshman, together scored all but four of the Lady Pirates' 29 points.  Mulvey said that Galgano's eight points were probably her career high.

Mulvey said that taking injuries into account, he was happy with the how the Lady Pirates played, especially in the second half.

"The second half was way better," he said. "We were not missing assignments. Massapequa has good athletes and good basketball players, they make you look bad. 'Pequa stepped off the pedal a little at the end of the game, so that was nice."

Mepham is back on the court again on Friday, Jan. 22 against Uniondale at 4:30p.m. for a home game.