Lady Colts Trample Hawks

While most athletic squads yell out their team name prior to games, the Calhoun Lady Colts put their hands together and scream, "Heart."  

But heart only gets you so far.  Talent wins basketball games.  

The Lady Colts put their talents on full display yesterday afternoon at Plainview-JFK High School as they cruised to a 54-39 win over the Hawks.

Danielle Losee drilled a three on the game's first possession giving Calhoun a lead it would never relinquish. 

"We're starting to get it," said Calhoun coach Dave Radtke, whose team has won two straight after starting the season 0-6.  "It makes sense.  They are playing unselfish."  

Calhoun raced out to a 7-0 lead, forcing Plainview to use a timeout just a minute into the contest.  But a three-day vacation likely wouldn't have cooled off the Colts on Tuesday. 

Junior forward Meghan O'Sullivan paced the team with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds.  Losee chipped in 14 points and Erin Green and Jessica Ruggiero each scored six.   

With under a minute to play in the first quarter and already on top 14-5, Radtke yelled out, "Play hard," and almost immediately O'Sullivan swatted away a Hawks' shot.  It was that kind of day for the Colts. 

"They came out much stronger than us," Plainview coach Frank Buck said.  "We never recovered from the first quarter.  I watched them earlier in the year and they are a much better team and that's a sign of good coaching."

Plainview, which fell to 0-8 on the season, closed to within four in the second quarter following a Taylor Masterides three and a fast break layup from Chelsea Kinstler, who led the Hawks with 11 points.  

But the Colts answered right back as sophomore guard Losee tossed an inbounds pass from half court that found O'Sullivan wide open underneath the basket.   A three from senior Katie Berghorn sent the Colts to the locker room leading 28-18.  

The Colts would extend that margin to 43-30 at the end of three, continuing to rely on crisp passing and O'Sullivan's dominating play inside.  In the team's first six games, O'Sullivan scored a total of 48 points.  In the last two, she has combined for 54 points.

"Meghan is a tremendous player," Buck said after the game.  "I was very impressed with her." 

The Colts did not let up in the fourth quarter.  At one point, Losee hit her third trey of the game and seconds later snagged the ball away from the Hawks and raced down the court to drop in a layup. 

O'Sullivan's rise has come in no small part thanks to the Losee, who dished out nine assists on Tuesday, many of which found her teammate for easy buckets.

"I thought I played well," Losee said, in what anyone within a mile of the Plainview gym would call an understatement.  "We are starting to mesh." 

Losee has always been a shooter, Radtke said, but she has recently learned that giving the ball up may not be so bad after all. 

"If she kicks it inside, she knows she will get it back," Radtke said of Losee.  "She knows she will get her points."    

The Lady Colts try to make it three in a row on Saturday when they host East Meadow at 12:30 p.m.