Calhoun Girls Basketball Gets Early Christmas Gift, Grinds Out Win Over Valley Stream

It was a game, Calhoun coach David Radtke said his team was supposed to win.

And win they did by a healthy 58-50 margin. But enroute to doing so, the Lady Colts basketball squad gave visiting Valley Stream Central too many second chances Tuesday night.

Facing a team that Radtke's squad has had a record of success with over the years, Calhoun trailed for the entire first quarter, pulled out to a seven point lead at the half, and never trailed in the second half–but down the stretch the margin between the two teams fluctuated wildly.

Up by as much as 15 and as few as six in the second half, Calhoun settled for a 58-50 win and its first conference victory of the season.

"We almost at times seemed to want to give it away–we made a lot of fouls and missed shots," Radtke said. "But we gutted it out. "

"We need to pull together more as a team sometimes," added Jessica Ruggiero. "When we do that we play well."

Valley Stream had come into the game 0-1 after a season opening loss to Great Neck South. Calhoun, also 0-1 in conference play, was 2-1 overall, having come out of the box strong before losing a tough conference opener against Mepham away.

Calhoun clearly had more depth, which they displayed with strong games from Ruggiero, (19 points -- including five from the foul line -- nine rebounds and two blocked shots) and Meghan O'Sullivan (17 points, 10 rebounds and a massive block early in the second half that had the fans on their feet).

Also scoring big for Calhoun was Danielle Losee, who after having trouble putting the rock in the hole got her three pointer untracked in the second half, sparking her team's second half surge with 13 points of her own.

But it was Valley Stream which seemed the aggressor through much of the game, with a full court press and intensity crashing the offensive boards that seemed to get to the Lady Colts at time.

"We're still trying to get a handle on the press," Radtke said.

In fact, neither team scored until more than four minutes into the game, when Ruggiero hit her first bucket to make it 2-0. For the rest of the first quarter, Central's hustle seemed too much for Calhoun, and the Lady Colts were outscored 10-4.

In the second quarter, Ruggiero began to find her form inside however, scoring eight of her team's 22 points as Calhoun swept past Valley Stream and into the locker up by seven at 28-21.

"In the beginning our shots weren't falling, and they were very intense," Ruggiero said. "Blocking out was tough, but there were a lot of rebound opportunities for us, and we were able to hold our own."

It was Losee who had the hot hand to start off the second half, draining a couple of three pointers from the left side to give her team a spark.

"When Danielle started to hit those threes it helped our morale," Ruggiero said.

Additionally, Valley Stream's persistent full court press began to offer fast break opportunities for Calhoun–with O'Sullivan and Dana Silvester capitalizing on the open court situation to score points against their opponents before their defense could set up.

With 5:47 left in the game, it was a fifteen point spread for Calhoun, and you'd have thought it was all but over. But Valley Stream wasn't done yet. With the Lady Colts in foul trouble and a renewed energy to Central's full court press, in a matter of less than a minute the margin was narrowed to nine, and it was clear Calhoun was going to have to get its act together to hang onto the lead.

In the end, they did. With both teams in foul trouble, the Lady Colts found themselves marching to the foul line–and making better use of the opportunity, going four for four from the charity stripe down the line.

That, and a gradual improvement in bringing the ball out of the backcourt against the press, did the trick.

"This game will make us better," coach Radtke said afterwards. "It was a game we had to win, if we hadn't it would have been devastating. Now we go into the Christmas break happy. "

In addition to the win, the Lady Colts had another reason to celebrate Tuesday night–at halftime, the school officially retired #10, the jersey number worn by former Calhoun star Megan Vasquez. Vasquez was a 2000-plus point scorer for the Lady Colts, and this season is a standout performer on the basketball court at Yale.

Next up: Calhoun hosts Valley Stream North next Monday at 11 a.m. in a non-conference matchup.