Lady Colts Gallop Through Carey Seahawks

The Carey High School girls basketball had game and a couple of rows of raucous fans in the home stands, but the visiting Calhoun Lady Colts brought talent and teamwork with them to the gym last Thursday night, running up a big lead and staying focused for four quarters to thrash the Seahawks 60-41 and improve their overall record to 5-1 on the season.

 “We did everything we wanted to do,” Calhoun coach David Radtke said after the game. “We played well.“

 The game featured a potent inside game for Jessica Ruggiero (23 points, seven rebounds) and a perimeter shooting game that was lights out when it counted.

 “It was competitive inside, but it’s always competitive inside,” Ruggiero said. “Carey’s always a threat, and we had to gear ourselves up. We boxed out, got the rebounds, and were able to push through.”

 Despite the margin of victory, the winless Seahawks were no pushovers, hustling and fighting for free balls, putting on an aggressive defensive display, and showing moments of offensive pop, especially when the ball was in the hands of Liz Osowiecki (15 points).

 The Lady Colts hit the floor with an aggressive half court trap game, which paid dividends, causing 11 turnovers in the first half alone. Guard Dana Silvester (seven points, four rebounds, two assists) was part of the team effort which harried their opponents mercilessly.

 “There were times they could handle our pressure, but then they‘d lose it,” Silvester said.

 While Ruggiero was doing damage inside, a number of Lady Colts were getting the job done from the perimeter. In the second quarter, a rapid series of three-point bombs from Megan O’Sullivan (12 points, three rebounds), Carley Singer and Danielle Losee (nine points on three treys, two assists and three steals) turned a competitive game into a halftime blowout at 34-17.

 As has become somewhat of a pattern for this year’s Lady Colts basketball squad, after an initial run in the third quarter there was something of a let up, and the Lady Hawks were able to trim a 20-point deficit down to 13 with a little left to go in the quarter.

 But then O’Sullivan, who had had a relatively quiet afternoon up to that point, took over, pulling in a defensive rebound and getting the outlet pass, and then nailing a sweet three-pointer from the left side to kill Carey’s momentum. In the fourth quarter it was all Calhoun--layups and foul shots from Ruggiero, and a couple of baskets from O’Sullivan.

 “Sometimes we have a let down after playing a good first half--and we almost did this time,” coach Radtke said. “But then we picked it up. We played a whole game.”

 With four to go, it was the Lady Colts by 24, and nothing could stand in the way of their fifth win of the season. A strong display by bench players kept the game pressure on Carey, in particular by Jessica Parascondola, who had four rebounds in the late going.

Radtke, who said he’s scrapped the full court press but feels his players are fast enough for a half court trap, thought that in addition to the defense going well, there was a new unselfishness in shot taking.

 “We’re emphasizing we before me now,” he said. “And you can see that, as a result, we had three or four girls in double figures. And when the bench went into the game, there was no lull. They did a very nice job.”

 The Lady Colts will host Great Neck South (2-1) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Box Score