OLMA Basketball Holds Off St. Mary's for First Round Win

This season has been defined by youth for the Mustangs basketball team. The youth has been both frustrating and exhilarating. But don’t tell that to the group of Mustangs who stepped on the floor Monday evening at St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset.

In an effort that was reminiscent of veteran laden teams, Mercy topped the the Gaels, 57-48, in the first round of the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA playoffs. The win earns the Mustangs a date with third seeded Holy Trinity on Wednesday night. Olivia Walsh led the Mustangs with 16 points.

After outscoring the Gaels 22-9 in the third quarter, Mercy was up by 14 entering the final eight minutes of play. The Mustangs, who had been dominant since midway through the second quarter, looked to be cruising towards a first round rout.

Two runs contributed to the lopsided advantage. Mercy cut the lead to one at halftime after scoring the final five points of the second quarter. An 11-0 run early in the third proved that the stellar play at the end of the opening half was no fluke.

“They were huge,” Head coach John Kiffel said. “We move the ball really well. We don’t always make shots real well. We get open looks a lot and today we made them. On those two runs, we made our shots."

But basketball can never be that easy, especially in the playoffs.

The Gaels’ Maddie Jankowski cut the Mercy lead to 10 with a nifty and-one play midway through the fourth. St. Mary’s kept answering each Mustang attempt to turn the game back into a rout, climbing to within nine after a Nelia Collins three-pointer with under two minutes left.

It was here where the Mercy inexperience was a concern. A road playoff game. A charging home team. A loud crowd in a small gym. It could have been a recipe for disaster. Only, it wasn’t.

St. Mary’s had inched ever closer with two free throws. OLMA responded. Walsh sunk two freebies of her own with 1:07 left to lift the Mustang lead back to nine. But the last flurry was yet to come.

OLMA got called for a traveling violation and a double dribble on consecutive possessions in the final minute. This allowed the Gaels to draw up a final scare. It came in the form of a Jankowski three that cut the OLMA lead to six. To the relief of Kiffel and his crew, the lead would shrink no more.

A Shannon Brady foul shot in the final seconds iced it, ensuring that the season would live another day.

“We felt like it was in our hands with about five and a half minutes to go,” Kiffel said. “St. Mary’s did an unbelievable job. They're an experienced team and they showed it. We’re a little young and we were a little lucky at the end.”     

 Mercy will be happy to ride that luck all the way to the second round.  

 Hero: – The freshman point guard ran the offense like a senior. She had 14 points when the final buzzer sounded, but her impact went beyond the score sheet. Her command of the offense made it seem like she was dictating the St Mary’s defenders. Brady set the tone early with a three-pointer to give OLMA an early 3-0 lead. She hit two more three-pointers before the game was over, including the one that started the 11-0 run in the third.

 Turning Point: The 11-0 run did more then give the Mustangs a 29-21 lead, it allowed them to break the handcuffs of youth. While no coach ever wants to see his team make mistakes, it’s easier to swallow when a lead that large is already built. It allowed OLMA to make some mistakes in the fourth and still emerge with the victory.

Quotable: “We kept our composure as much as possible,” Kiffel said of the final moments. “We tried to space out the court and did a decent job of that. We made some foul shots and knew who to defend.”

Bottom Line: The win was a perfect exclamation point on a season that was all about learning. The Mustangs took the lessons they learned earlier in the season and put them to good use. The intensity on both ends of the court didn’t just match that of St. Mary’s, it surpassed it. That kind of intensity will need to continue in the second round.

Key Stat: OLMA hit five three-pointers.

Who’s Next: CHSAA second round - Wednesday @ Holy Trinity, 7pm.

Box Score:

Team………..1…..2…..3…..4…..F

OLMA……..9…....9…..22…17….57

St Mary’s….12……7…..9…..20….48

OLMA: Walsh 4-6-16, Brady 5-1-14, Wildes 4-2-10, Walsh 2-4-8, L. Lehmuller 2-3-7, M Lehmuller 1-0-2 Totals: 18- 16- 57

St. Mary’s: Jankowski 7-3-23, Collins 5-1-12, Bryant 2-1-5, Mattone 1-1-4, Valdez 1-0-2, James 1-0-2. Totals: 17- 6- 48

Threes: OLMA: Walsh (2), Brady (3). St. Mary’s: Jankowski (6), Collins, Mattone.