Girls: Alzheimer's All-Star Classic
BAY SHORE, NY - It was Nassau County's best girls against Suffolk County's top girls in the 6th annual Alzheimer's All-Star Basketball Classic at Bay Shore H.S. on Long Island on Sunday, and this contest was not treated like just another all-star game as each girl played hard from start to finish, trying to represent the cause, and their county, to the fullest degree.
While this was a close and tight game most of the way it was Game MVP Celeste Taylor (Long Island Lutheran '19) that came up with a couple huge buckets late to help Nassau pull away for the 86-77 victory.
Suffolk were the ones who pulled out to the quick lead at the start behind a pair of threes from Taylor Tripptree (Ward Melville '17), and with her high school teammate Lauren Hansen (Ward Melville '19) also able to get on the board early getting by her defender and stepping back for a long three of her own, Suffolk took a 19-13 lead.
The play of Taylor for Nassau meant the lead was short lived though as she was able to pull up on a dime and score on a pair of baseline jumpers to give Nassau some momentum late in the opening quarter, and when Emma Cuccurullo (Long Island Lutheran '18) got on the board for her first points on a short jumper late in the 1st, the game was tied up at 25 heading to quarter number two.
It was a very well-played opening first 10 minutes in terms of the offensive abilities of the girls on the court, and while each team still was able to do good things in the second, the defensive intensity stepped up a bit making it much more difficult to get the open looks many of the players had early on.
Nassau did begin to edge out a bit with the lead as Kem Nwabudu (Elmont '18) was able to use her good size inside to finish first on a runner, and then off a nice post up move around the rim. The Nassau lead grew to as many as 6 in the 2nd before a late surge by Suffolk, and specifically Katie Murphy (Hauppauge '17) allowed the deficit to be closed to 2 in the closing seconds, but Jaida Patrick (Long Island Lutheran '19) hit on a nice floater just before the buzzer to see Nassau take a 41-37 lead into the half.
Both teams wanted the win and we're playing with a high level of intensity and passion to prove that, and with an outstanding opening half of play in the books, the same plus more was no doubt expected for the second half, and down the stretch of the game.
Maia Moffitt (St. Anthony's '17) came out to start the second half and knocked down a 3 from the left wing to close the gap to just 1 again, and when hometown girl Victoria Pearce (Bay Shore '17) went coast to coast off a Nassau miss, just over a minute into the 3rd quarter Suffolk had retaken a 1 point lead.
The Baldwin duo of Jenna Annecchiarico (Baldwin '18) and Aziah Hudson (Baldwin '18) pushed the tempo more midway through the 3rd and that started to pay dividends as Nassau responded nicely with an 9-2 run to put them back in front and it looked as if Nassau would actually start to pull away.
An 8-point lead was built for Nassau in the final 1:20 of the 3rd, but Pearce was starting to take over for her Suffolk team as she scored the last 5 points of the 3rd, including a very deep three pointer that got the crowd going to make Nassau's lead after three just 57-54.
With momentum building once again for Suffolk they were able to climb back and get the lead back early in the 4th as the 5-0 run to finish the 3rd for Suffolk ended up becoming an 11-0 run as Pearce scored on back to back buckets to start to carry her team, giving them a 60-57 lead with 7:55 to play.
Cuccurullo would nail a gigantic three ball from the left side to tie things back up at 60 though, and at that point it became a back and forth affair for the next 2 plus minutes as when each team scored, the other would answer.
Danielle Cosgrove (Sachem East '18) scored on a nice post up move inside, and then that was countered by Nwabudu. Moffitt hit a big 3, and then Taylor stepped right back up and matched.
It was that kind of game, but Annecchiarico may have had the biggest play of the game with 5 minutes to play as she was able to get the ball in the right corner and beat her defender to the rim where she finished while getting fouled. She hit the FT to give Nassau a 68-65 lead, a lead they would never again relinquish.
Annecchiarico hit on the big bucket, but it was Taylor who would keep them in the lead late as even when Pearce was hitting big shot after big shot to try and keep Suffolk close, it was Taylor who would not let them get over the top.
After Suffolk was able to close the deficit to 78-75 with 1:10 left, Taylor would drain a huge corner three ball to really seal the deal as that was the dagger. Kadaja Bailey (St. Mary's '18) was also huge for Nassau late as she used her combination of size and speed to make a big offensive difference as well.
To the credit of Pearce, she did all she could to try and lift Suffolk to the win, but Nassau and specifically Taylor were just not going to let that happen on this day as Nassau pulled away in the final minute from the FT line to take home a hard earned 86-77 win.
Taylor was named Game MVP with a team high 24 points, including 11 in a dominating 1st quarter and 9 in a big 4th quarter to lead the way. Bailey had 11 of her 13 points in the 4th quarter to help Nassau take the win, while Cuccurullo, Hudson, and Annecchiarico each had 9 points as well for the winners.
In the loss, it was Bay Shore's own Pearce who led all scorers in the game with 26 points showing that she is clearly one of Long Island's top, and most underrated players this season. Tripptree added 12 points, with Hansen and Moffitt each chipping in with 8 points apiece as well in the defeat.
