Lady Colts Basketball Reins In Long Beach For Win

The Calhoun girls basketball team punched a hole in Long Beach's undefeated conference record Tuesday night, neutralizing the visitors' two primary offensive weapons early, dominating on defense, and putting on an offensive display that had them up by enough of a margin for everyone on the squad to get playing time in the 52-41 win.

While the end margin of 11 points sounds like something less than a blowout, the early going was a onesided affair, as Calhoun (2-1 conference, 4-1 overall) out-rebounded the Lady Mariners 21-6 in the first half, and rattled Long Beach's offense in the second quarter to cause 2 0f 13 shooting from the floor.

It was only because the full court press from Long Beach (2-1 conference, 2-4 overall) for a good part of the third quarter and all of the fourth resulted in seven steals and numerous turnovers for the Lady Colts that the visitors were able to claw their way back into it and make the final score respectable.

"They were tough," Calhoun coach Dave Radtke said of Long Beach. "They didn't give up."

Leading the way for the Lady Colts was Megan O'Sullivan (17 points, 14 rebounds, two steals) who knew the job of her squad was to stop Long Beach offensive standouts Molly Martin (13 points, three rebounds), and Hart McDonough (10 points, three rebounds).

"We came out excited because we felt this was a game we could win, and when we saw the zone they put out there, there were a lot of spots for us to position ourselves for offensive rebounds," O'Sullivan said. "And on defense, we focused on their two big shooters. Once we did that other people had to touch the ball."

Radtke added: "Our defense played real well, we dominated the rebounds and I'm happy with that effort."

O'Sullivan had significant help on the boards from a couple of her teammates, including Jess Ruggiero (12 points, nine rebounds), Dana Silvester (nine points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block), and Maggie Kavanah, who was big on the boards with four rebounds in the second quarter.

Quick hands from Danielle Lossee and Ellie Rosenblum kept the Lady Mariners off their mark, and 80 percent free-throw shooting in the second half put a damper on Long Beach's comeback bid, as their aggressive defense put them into foul trouble with plenty of time remaining.

The game was played aggressively by both teams, with Calhoun notching nine steals overall–seven in the first half. A key moment during the fourth quarter came when Losee picked off a Long Beach pass and got the outlet to O'Sullivan, who found Talia Charidah under the basket for a back-breaking two points.

That and a 'from-behind' slamming dunk to thwart a Lady Mariner fast break attempt showed that on this day, the Lady Colts were equal to the pressure, and quite unwilling to let the W slip from their grasp.

Calhoun travels to 0-5 Carey Thursday for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off.

                          1       2     3     4    Total

Calhoun        15    15    11    11       52

Long Beach  10     7    10    14      41