Syosset Girls Basketball Loses Second Straight

The Syosset Braves girls basketball team lost another heartbreaker at home Friday night, falling 35-32 to Oceanside at .

The loss came one night after being awarded a forfeit victory due to a water leak at Hempstead High School. Lauren Maturo led the Braves with 16 points. With the loss, Syosset is now 5-6 in Conference AA-I.

The Braves struggled offensively for most of the night. During a seven-point first quarter, Syosset hit only three field goals. Defensively, however, it was a different story. The Braves allowed only eight first quarter points, putting themselves in a position to tie the game at 17 moments before halftime.

“We struggled against their zone because they (Oceanside) did a nice job closing out on the shooters,” Syosset head coach Doug Schumacher said. “Every time we got the ball into Lauren (Maturo), they hacked her. Anytime you hold a team to 32 points, you’re pretty effective.”

The Braves failed to help themselves out with free throws. Although Oceanside kept sending Syosset to the line, they only made seven of their 14 attempts.

“If you’re going to win close games - which is the only way we’re going to win games in the league - you have to make free throws,” Schumacher said. “In the Uniondale game, we made free throws. Today, we were seven of 14.”

Despite the free throw woes, Syosset still had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter. A Katelyn Lesse 3-pointer with under four minutes to go cut the Oceanside lead to 32-28. After a Victoria Ciavarella steal, Maturo brought to Braves to within two with a layup.

Moments later, Maturo knocked down two free throws to tie the game. Oceanside’s Ashley Artus broke the tie with 40 seconds to go. That’s when the game drifted away from the Braves for good.

Syosset was called for both a travel and a back court violation in the final half minute, ending any buzzer beater hopes.

 Hero: Maturo  led the team in points for the seventh time this season. Her presence down low is nothing but intimidating to opponents. Because of her size, she causes massive match-up issues. All Oceanside could do to stop the Maturo layup machine was to foul her and send her to the line. She made them pay, too. The junior scored six of her 16 points from the charity stripe.

 Turning Point: Syosset didn’t start the fourth quarter strong. A 3-pointer by Sailors captain Ally Brooks gave Oceanside a six point lead early in the period. Although Syosset would pull even later in the fourth, they could never fully recover from the poor first few minutes.

Quotable: “We executed our press really well,” Schumacher said. “We held them to 35 points. That’s pretty good.”

 Bottom Line: Despite having a poor night offensively, the Braves did a good job staying in the game. They are clearly a tough group, one that refuses to quit even when things aren’t going their way. But Syosset struggled all night getting rebounds off missed Oceanside free throws. The failure to deny the Sailors second opportunities was a large reason why the Braves went home without a win.

 Key Stat: Only four Syosset Braves scored.

 Who’s Next: Friday @ Massapequa, 7pm.

Box Score:           

Team……………1…..2…..3…..4…..F

Oceanside………8…..9…..8….10…..35

Syosset…………7…..10…..7….8…..32

Oceanside: Pumo 3-1-7, Krefsky 0-1-1, Brooks 2-1-7, Artus 2-3-7, Daniel 3-3-9, O’Keefe 1-0-2 Totals: 11-9-35

Syosset: Lesse 3-0-8, Bird 1-0-2, Ciavarella 2-1-6, Maturo 5-6-16 Totals: 11-7-32

Threes: Oceanside: Brooks (2) Syosset: Lesse (2) Ciavarella