New Hyde Park Girls Basketball Loses First Round of Playoffs in Overtime 58-55

The (8-4 in conference play; 11-7 overall) lost its first round playoff game against fellow Sewanhaka District team (7-5 in conference; 10-8 overall) at home by a score of 58-55.

It was hard at times to remember that this was a home game for New Hyde Park as Sewanhaka had their cheerleaders at the game and New Hyde Park did not. To add to that, the Sewanhaka section of the crowd seemed to cheer more loudly and consistently than the New Hyde Park crowd.

The game went into overtime after Sewanhaka came back from being down at the half with a series of three pointers that put them in the lead for a while. New Hyde Park was able to even the score a few seconds before the game ended, but in overtime a quick lead was washed away after seniors Ciara McCullagh and Maria Katsoulis fouled out of the game.

Heroes: The aforementioned McCullagh and Katsoulis. Though Sewanhaka swarmed McCullagh and certainly made the game more difficult for her, she was still one of the games highest scores with 17 points, she pulled down several rebounds (which sometimes turned into jump balls because of the Sewanhaka players on top of her) and she helped to circulate the ball through Sewanhaka's press.

Katsoulis, the game's highest scorer, made her dent in the game at the base of the basket as she shook off a few defenders herself. She also helped the team move the ball around and get past the press. Katsoulis went to wherever the ball needed her to be.

This is the final game for fellow senior Lexi Peveraro. Peveraro was charged with guarding Sewanhaka's highest scorer, Celine Jolicoeur, and she was also a big help getting the ball down the court past Sewanhaka's press.

Turning point: New Hyde Park was up by a score of 30-22 at the half, but Megan Mullaney sunk three three pointers at six minutes, 10 seconds; four minutes and 15 seconds; three minutes and 15 seconds respectively, bringing the score to 39-38 New Hyde Park. The score didn't tilt Sewanhaka's way until three minutes, 40 seconds with a shot by Jolicoeur which took the score to 49-50, Sewanhaka. The last minute of the game was filled with foul shots with the final one by Katsoulis tying the game up at 53 all.

In overtime, McCullagh made a basket within the first 15 seconds, but she fouled out at the two minutes and 56 second mark. Jolicoeur, who McCullagh fouled, made both of her shots, evening the score again. Katsoulis then fouled out with one minute and 10 seconds left to go; Shantell McCall made both of her foul shots, bringing the score to 55-57, Sewanhaka. New Hyde Park wasn't able to flip the score back their way before time ran out.

Quotable: "We didn't anticipate this," said Head Coach Hugh Flaherty. "We thought we had a shot at the final four."

Bottom line: "We had plenty of shots but we couldn't put the ball in the basket," Flaherty said of his team. He added that Sewanhaka played well and that Jolicoeur is a good player.

Key stat: Three pointers. Sewanhaka tried several three pointers in the first half of the game and had the issue that Flaherty mentioned of his team where the shots just couldn't find their way into the basket. But Mullaney's three three pointers in the third quarter helped Sewanhaka quickly catch New Hyde Park's coattails.

Team .................................... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... F

New Hyde Park ................... 14 .. 16 .. 16 .. 9 .. 55

Sewanhaka ......................... 9 .. 13 .. 19 .. 14 .. 58