Bedeviled: Lady Colts Lose Again

This time, the Lady Colts had the size.  With one notable exception.

After being worn down by Syosset's larger frontcourt last time out, Calhoun was done in yesterday by the Freeport Lady Devils' star big guard - time and again.

LaTashia Morris scored a game high 24 to lead Freeport to a 56-52 win at Calhoun High, giving the Lady Devils their first victory of the season, and dropping the Colts to 0-4.

Morris was seldom contained throughout the afternoon, using spin moves to drive inside and score.  The Calhoun interior defense?  It resembled most of Long Island this past weekend - frozen in its tracks.

"[Morris] can handle the ball, she's big and strong," Calhoun coach Dave Radtke said.  "I've got quick, smaller guards, and the big, strong, quick guard hurts us."

Despite the show Morris put on, it was a tight contest for most of the day. Calhoun matched Morris' inside game with strong perimeter shooting and fast break points in recording its highest point total of the season.

The inside-out combo of sophomore guard Danielle Losee (13 points) and junior forward Meghan O'Sullivan (a team high 17) paced the Lady Colts to a fast start.

Losee hit both her threes in the first quarter to give her squad an early 10 point advantage. Freeport faltered at the free throw line, and Calhoun led at the half, 24-21.

Morris soon turned that around.

The junior exploded for 11 in the third period, and her layup off a Calhoun turnover put Freeport on top to stay.  Star-Asia Harris (14 points) hit from downtown to extend the lead, as the Devils would outscore the Colts 21-9 in the frame. 

The Lady Colts wouldn't go down quietly.  A Losee layup brought Calhoun to within three with under a minute left, and swarming defense created chances for the Colts to draw even, but Calhoun was unable to take advantage.

Sophomore Dana Silvester recorded two steals in the final minute, once missing a layup, and later stepping out of bounds to give the ball right back.

Morris capped her day by hitting clutch free throws down the stretch, and time ran out on the Lady Colts.

"We're a smaller team, we really only have one true big girl...I told [our guards] you have to look to attack," Freeport coach Meredith Jones said, "and they really did a good job finishing tonight, which has been one of our Achilles' heels."  

That seems to be the game plan the Lady Colts will try and follow as 2010 approaches.

"We need to play throughout...the past three games we've either started with it and not ended it or [vice versa]," said senior Erin Green, who finished with six points. "If we just play consistent throughout, I think we'll pull off a win."

Calhoun continues league play January 5th at Plainview.  While Radtke would certainly like a Lady Colts victory as a New Year's present, he feels he's already been given a Christmas gift of hustle from his team.

"They're working their butts off," he said.  "The work ethic is unbelievable, as a coach that's all you can ask."