Marines Watch Calhoun Race By

For a high school coach, a roster filled with underclassmen provides an opportunity to watch the team mature over time, and hopefully blossom into a solid unit.

Unfortunately, it also means there will be growing pains, and some real tough days. On Tuesday afternoon at Long Beach High School, the Marines had one of those days.

Junior Danielle Losee scored 18 points and dished out five assists to lead visiting Calhoun to a 62-18 rout of Long Beach.

Junior Jessica Ruggiero was a force inside, scoring 14 points and pulling down eight rebounds for the Colts. Calhoun shot a torrid 15-for-21 from the floor in the opening half as it took a 40-13 halftime lead. Senior Meghan O'Sullivan scored nine points and grabbed eight boards for the Colts.

While the blustery winter has forced every team to cancel practices or scramble for gym time over the past month, Long Beach head coach Lori DeVivio feels it has taken its toll on her young team that has just one senior on the roster.

“It’s not an excuse, but it definitely has hurt our ability to prepare,” DeVivio said. “We missed a couple days of practice, and then we were displaced and had to practice in another facility. We’ve got into a little bit of a funk. Our youth showed today. Our starters came out flat, and we really weren’t prepared for what they threw at us.”

Calhoun, which improved to 6-4 in Conference AA-III, came into the game having lost its past three games. The Colts came out flying. With Losee on fire from the perimeter, and Ruggiero dominating in the paint, Calhoun ran out to a 21-4 first-quarter lead. The Colts shot 72 percent from the floor in the opening quarter.

Things didn’t get any better for the Marines. Calhoun went on a 17-2 run in the second quarter to take a commanding 38-9 lead.

The offensive explosion did not surprise Calhoun head coach Dave Radtke.

“When we shoot the ball well, we’re very hard to stop,” Radtke said. “We have two girls on the inside who are monsters, and if Losee goes crazy like she did today, watch out. She was unstoppable.”

Freshman Mary McDonagh’s five points led Long Beach, which dropped to 3-6 in league play. 11 players scored for Calhoun.

DeVivio saw the loss as another learning experience for the Marines.

“We were really starting to jell as a unit, but we lost some of that chemistry today,” she said. “We came out flat, and had a tough time adjusting to what they were doing. They’ll learn from this. They’ll start recognizing things a little quicker, and will learn how to make adjustments on the fly. It’s a learning process. We have to put this one behind us.”

The Marines will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Bellmore JFK. Tipoff is 7:15 pm.