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Sports

NHP Girls Basketball Defeat Great Neck North, 44-28

Former Blazer coach Hugh Flaherty showed Great Neck North no mercy.

A stellar 21-point-performance by senior center  helped the  girls basketball team earn a 44-28 victory over host Great Neck North High School in a non-conference game on Monday evening.

This was the second win in a row for the Gladiators (2-1) after losing to  in their season opener and then picking up a win over Hempstead.

Heroes: McCullagh's post-up proficiency and overall presence under the net led to her scoring almost half of the team's points against Great Neck North. She also managed to draw some fouls and went five for eight from the free-throw line. She pulled down a great many offensive and defensive boards as well.

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Sophomore Gabriella Tomasini's deadly jumpshot earned her a solid 11 points, including an impressive three-pointer in the second quarter. Her speediness and overall hustle helped the Gladiators push the ball down-court and her precise passing led to some key assists.

Turning point: Great Neck North showed some signs of life during the latter half of the third quarter. They started playing tighter defense and didn't rush their offense as much. They also managed to garner a few steals and fought for more rebounds. New Hyde Park did not help their cause by stepping out of bounds and traveling on several occasions. Alas, all of this was not enough for the Blazers, as missed lay-up attempts and the looming Gladiator lead sealed Great Neck North's fate.

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Quotable: "We have a pretty big team," New Hyde Park coach Hugh Flaherty said. "And I made sure everybody got playing time." Flaherty also said of his team, "We played good 'D' and moved the ball well."

According to Great Neck North coach Mike Lewis: "McCullagh did a great job and they have a great coach," he said of his "mentor" Hugh Flaherty, who used to coach at Great Neck North.

Bottom line: Flaherty prepared his team for the match-up by focusing on "defense and short-passing" during practice. The work paid off as the team's tight defense quashed Great Neck North's coordinated offensive efforts and forced the Blazers to shoot the ball early.

Flaherty was proud that his team cut down on turnovers in the second half but will continue to stress the issue in practice before New Hyde Park faces Division in Levittown Friday.

Key Stat: One of the chinks in the Gladiators' armor was their turnovers. They had 15 in the first half alone

Who's Next: New Hyde Park @ Division, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

                                Girls Basketball Non-Conference

Teams 1 2 3 4 F New Hyde Park 13 11 12 8 44 Great Neck North 5 8 7 8 28
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