It's Lady Colts In A Laugher

Calhoun showed why they're a playoff contender.  Plainview JFK showed why they have yet to reach the win column.

The Lady Colts dominated the Hawks from tip-off to the postgame handshakes, and rolled to a 60-39 win in Conference AA-II action yesterday.  Calhoun (4-5) kept their postseason hopes alive, while visiting Plainview JFK fell to 0-9.

Calhoun would not be challenged from the start, and Katie Berghorn and Danielle Losee made sure things stayed that way throughout the afternoon.  The pair combined to hit 10 of the Lady Colts' 11 threes on the day, with Berghorn leading all scorers with 18.  Losee finished with 13.

Knowing that Plainview would be playing zone, Calhoun coach Dave Radtke opted for a more offense-driven starting lineup, inserting Ellie Rosenblum in place of Dana Silvester.  The goal was to get his sharpshooters going early.  Mission accomplished.

"Losee and I were really wide open," Berghorn said.  "No one was really coming at us, once we started hitting a couple [threes]...it was easy, we weren't really challenged too much."

In the opening seconds, Meghan O'Sullivan caught an outlet pass and outran the Plainview defense to open the day's scoring.  The relatively easy basket set the tone, as the Colts jumped out to an early 10 point lead.  O'Sullivan finished with 11 points, to go along with 8 rebounds and 9 assists.

The Hawks were off the mark for much of the game, firing errant passes and heaving up awkward shots for airballs.  Dani Soberman led the Hawks with 11, but the lack of any semblance of a perimeter game prevented Plainview from keeping it close.  Calhoun led by 15 at the half, and cruised from there.

Despite the lopsided score, the Colts hustled from start to finish, as Radtke emptied his bench, turning reserves into scorers, and starters into cheerleaders.

"These girls work their butts off, from 1 to 12," Radtke said.  "There is no jealousy...at the end of the game they're all cheering for each other."

The more players ready to go, the better.  No more winless teams on the schedule, as Calhoun needs to win two of their next three to make the playoffs.  The stretch drive begins with a trip to East Meadow on Tuesday.

"It's going to get a lot tougher," Radtke said.  "East Meadow's a real good team...Kennedy, we may have caught them on an off night (a 53-37 win), it's not going to be the same team, and Great Neck South is the best team in the conference.  We've got our work cut out for us."

Lady Colt players know now is not the time to get overconfident, as hitting 11 times from beyond the arc isn't something that happens on a regular basis.

"When we're able to shoot [well], take the threes, if not, get it inside, get the fouls, pound it inside...it depends what defense comes at us," Berghorn said.  "We just have to play really strong, really smart, and see what happens."

What happened?  It's a question the Hawks are probably asking themselves right about now.