Lady Marines' Youth Movement Takes The Court

The Lady Marines ‘Youth Movement’ is about to make its next big step on the girls’ basketball court.

With only one starter having graduated and seven players returning, coach Lori DeVivio’s Long Beach squad has targeted 2011-12 as the year to take their program —which won a conference championship in 2008 — back into playoff contention in Nassau County conference AA-III.

“I know we’ve taken our lumps, bringing up freshmen two years in a row,” said nine-year head coach DeVivio. “But now we have that under our belts, and we definitely want to make the playoffs.”

Getting there means taking advantage of what a group of nearly a dozen underclassmen bring to the game. They’re a team that has posted a losing record for two seasons, but the Lady Marines have an ability to run and gun.

And now that they’re maturing, DeVivio said, they’re looking to hold their ground — and the ball — better.

“We have a small team that is very fast and effective, and capable of putting up a lot of points,” said the Long Beach coach. “But we were 14-year-olds playing against 18-year- olds. Now we’re older and stronger, we’ve worked on our preseason conditioning. We have an ability to run, and if we can limit our turnovers, we can win.”

Three all-conference players, senior Brigette Gilbert and juniors Molly Martin and Kristen Barani, will return. Mary McDonagh, a tenth grader who got a lot of playing time last year filling in for an injured Caitlyn O’Connell, is back. Ninth-grader Perri Steiner will fill in for the team’s lone graduated player in the center slot.

Up from the JV are Samantha Angst (11), Kayla Peers (11) and Shauna Spruill (10). And the Lady Marines have picked up a transfer in tenth grade junior Alison DiLello.

The starting lineup, DeVivio said, isn’t clear yet, but that’s not the important part. “It’s not who starts, it’s who finishes,” she said.

“Brigette should be our primary shooting guard, Kristen and Mary interchanging at the one and two guard one guard,” said DeVivio. “Our looks will depend on who we face — we can feature a small and a big lineup. We’ll have to figure out from game to game what works best against other teams.”

Speaking of other teams, the conference has a new look to it, with Calhoun and Valley Stream Central having moved up, replaced by Hewlett and Westbury. But traditional powerhouses remain.

DeVivio sees a player like Molly Martin as a rising talent that is just a step behind the best the conference has to offer — and overall a team which will be tested but has a chance to compete.

“These have been two tough rebuilding years, but this year we’re shooting for the four seed and to get past the first round,“ she said. “I hope it’s our time to shine.”