Mepham Boys Basketball Falters in Fourth at Seaford

For the Mepham Pirates boys basketball team, off to a rough 0-2 start after dropping back to back games against Kennedy and Calhoun, Wednesday's game against Seaford had to be frustrating.

For three quarters things looked pretty bright. Facing a team that had gone 3-1 in early season action, the Pirates jumped out to an early lead and gradually built up a margin of as many as a 15 points.

Unfortunately for Mepham (0-3), basketball consists of four quarters.

And in the fourth, the Vikings of Seaford came roaring back, outscoring the Pirates 24-10 en route to a 49-44 victory.

"We played well for three quarters," said Mepham point guard Kyle Wechsler, who led the Pirates with 20 points. "But then Goldstein caught fire. We couldn't guard him."

He was referring to point guard Rob Goldstein, once again Seaford's leading scorer, who kept his team in the game in the first half with 15 points. He finished the evening with 27, including two late three-pointers and a 4-4 shooting spree from the line to steal the win right out of the Pirates' hands.

Seaford's Mike Siler, who went 6-for-7 from the line in the fourth quarter, also contributed to the Viking comeback; as did James Gambina, who hit two three-pointers in the first half and dropped the last foul shot in the net for the 49-40 win.

"We played sloppy in the beginning, but at the end we brought more intensity to the game," Gambina said. "And their foul situation in the second half was important to our ability to come back."

Goldstein agreed with his teammate. "We passed the ball more in the second half to pick apart their defense, and they got into foul trouble," he said.

The foul trouble gave Seaford an opportunity to find gaps and drive to the basket, opening up the perimeter for three-point shots and creating foul shot opportunities.

For much of the game, it was a matter of increasing hope for Pirates fans.

Spotting Seaford a 6-2 lead, Mepham went on a 8-2 run due to strong rebounding and hot shooting from Wechsler and Jordan Gilroy, who netted eight of his nine points in the first half.

Mepham pulled ahead by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, and led by seven at the half, taking advantage of some ball handling problems by Seaford and 11 points from Wechsler -- mostly on fast breaks.

It looked like more of the same in the third quarter, as Mepham found ways to push the ball inside on offense. But as the fourth quarter began, the Pirates' foul situation bit them, and bit them hard. Seaford pushed the ball inside possession after possession, and their march to the line over a five-minute stretch yielded eight points and opened up the perimeter for a suddenly reignited performance by Goldstein from three-point range.

"My boys are cool on the line," Seaford coach Ralph Rosetti said of his team's free-throw shooting.

The foul situation, Pirates head coach Rich Wojcieski noted, was "no excuse."

"That was three quarters of good basketball," he said afterwards, "but we had a mental collapse in the fourth."

Next up for Mepham is Wheatley, on Dec 28 at 1:45 p.m.

Box Score

Three-Pointers: M: Wechsler 2, Gilroy 1, Swanson 1; S: Goldstein 3, Gambina 2, Anczelowicz 1