Seniors say goodbye
Smiling seniors Emily Gibbs and Katie Siller receive accolades at their last home game.
Bouts of laughter and a few furrowed brows were the initialresponse to the beginning of Kristie Moschetta’s send-off of seniorcaptains Katie Siller and Emily Gibbs. “So, how about that ride in?began Moschetta, in what became a parody of a speech from thepopular movie, “The Hangover.
“I came to this school two and a half years ago, a lone wolf.Then I met Katie Siller. My first two weeks into the school, I soonrealized I was no longer a lone wolf. Then I started my sophomoreyear and met Emily Gibbs. I thought, could it be? Now I have threemen in my wolf pack? The girls’ laughter interspersed with thespeech made it obvious to the crowd how much fun these girls havetogether. But this parody quickly transformed into a more heartfeltgoodbye.
“Quoting Ë”The Hangover’ is just some of the goodtimes we’ve had with these two girls, Moschetta went on. “We allhad our ups and downs as a team and you guys were always there forus. We might be losing only two players, but we are losing thebiggest part of our team. We are going to miss you.
Kelsey McGayhey continued, calling the opportunity to play withthe girls a “privilege. She told Gibbs, “Your strong leadershipskills and having the ability to never give up has influenced me todo the same.
She said to Siller, “I have never seen anybody play asaggressively as you do in basketball, adding, “other than being agreat captain, along with Emily, your humor has gotten the teamthrough some rough times.
McGayhey finished, “You’re both phenomenal basketball players,excellent captains, not to mention great friends. Just remember,you won’t be forgotten next year, good luck with college, and thankyou for a great season.
EARLY CHARGE FALLS SHORT
The varsity Indians’ game against Southold was lessheart-warming. “It is what it is, said Coach Peter Miedema afterthe game. “I think all the girls played as hard as they could outthere. I’m not going to hang my head.
The Indians were trading the lead with the Clippers for thefirst four minutes of the game. Siller jumped out of bounds to savea ball at 5:59 and tossed it back in play, McGayhey was waiting andquickly let loose a jump shot, making the score 7-6 Clippers. WhenMackenzie Needham stole the ball on the next play and drove it infor a layup, the crowd went wild and it looked like the girls mightbe on their way to turning their 8-7 lead into an upsetvictory.
But for the following five minutes the Island fans were plantedsquarely in their seats as Southold went on an unanswered 12-pointrun. Only a sneaky bounce pass from Gibbs to McGayhey, which shethen snapped to Siller inside the paint for the layup, showed thatthe girls were still kicking.
The next quarter was dismal for the Islanders – they scored just4 points to the Clippers’ 18. Many of the Indians’ plays yieldedopen shots at the basket, but the girls’ shooting wasn’t on point.On some possessions, the Indians grabbed three or even four oftheir own rebounds but simply couldn’t score. “We had some openshots, they just didn’t fall, said Coach Miedema.
Furthermore, Southold scored plenty of easy layups by rushing aplayer downcourt immediately at the end of every Indianspossession. “If our team’s not going to react and hustle backthere’s not much we can do to stop them, said Coach Miedema. “Wejust didn’t get back.
It’s hard for the Indians with just seven girls on the roster.And when they get tired, said Coach Miedema, the mistakes areevident – repeated sloppy passes gave Southold turnovers and easylayups. The Indians used a zone defense to try to take awaySouthold’s speed advantage, but this allowed the Clippers to hangback and sink shots from outside. “You pick your poison, the Coachsaid.
Still, the girls were able to regain their composure and pulltheir defense together as the game wore on, keeping Southold tojust 16 points in the second half. McGayhey led the game in scoringwith 18 points – Needham put up 7.
The team’s efforts ultimately couldn’t overcome the first halfdeficit and SI lost, 54-37.
Coach Peter Miedema had some kind words for the graduatingseniors at the end of the game, calling their biggest contributionto the team their leadership: “Emily’s been on the team four years,Katie’s played three years. They have the experience and know whatit takes to be a varsity athlete.
He added that Siller’s aggressiveness has been invaluable:”She’s an ultimate scrapper, and that Gibbs “will always give us120 percent.
“They’re very intelligent, hardworking young ladies and theydefinitely have a bright future ahead of them. He added, “We’regoing to miss them a lot.
WORKING OUT THE KINKS
The junior varsity Indians started off slow in their contestwith Southold last Thursday, scoring just 6 points in the firsthalf to Southold’s 29. “We just didn’t match their tempo today,said JV Coach Will Collins.
The girls had trouble connecting their passes and their somewhatdisorganized defense gave up shot after shot. It was the first timethe JV squad had tried out a press defense, and they’re stillworking out the kinks. “Once you have one person in the wrongplace, it’s just going to break down.
But as the game wore on, the girls seemed to find their rhythm.They did a better job of covering their opponents on defense andeven made a number of steals. But in the end, it wasn’t enough -the girls eventually lost 48-23.
“Alexis Gibbs had a great fourth quarter, said Coach Collins.”Her personal goal for next week is to play with that intensity forfour quarters. If she does that, she’ll be a turnover machine. Headded that Breanna Hallman always gives him an outstanding effort,and that he was happy to have Megan Mundy off the disabled list:”she’s always intense.
“The effort from all my girls has been great all year, he saidin closing.
The home game against Smithtown Christian that was scheduled forWednesday was cancelled because of snow. Checksectionxi.org to see if its been rescheduled.