By Five Boro Sports
St. Francis Prep saw a lead slip away in a lopsided loss to Our Lady of Lourdes last week. The only things sliding for the Terriers against Smithtown West (L.I.) were a few players and a referee on a slippery section of the court in front of their bench.
Prep’s lead, on the other hand, stood throughout.
The Terriers, who trailed just once early, were able to hold off numerous comebacks and dealt with two long stoppages in play because of the greasy court during a 68-56 win over Smithtown West at the Big Apple Recruiting Holiday Classic at Bishop Ford Sunday.
“We tend to never play the whole 32 minutes,” senior point guard Aliya Donn said. “We always fall apart in little increments. This time we played almost a full 32 minutes.”
There was even an added obstacle for St. Francis Prep. The start of the second quarter was held up so the tournament staff and referees could wipe down a section of the court where a Terriers player slipped playing defense in front of her bench with less than 30 seconds left. Donn scored 13 points and led a sparking first quarter that saw the Terriers flying around on defense, making crisp passes and out-hustling Smithtown West all over the court.
“We came out more pumped,” junior Nicole Lenard, who scored 16 points, said. “We tried to work harder and it worked out for us.”
St. Francis Prep (4-3) led 21-10 at the end of the first when Jenna Halaby (15 points) hit Meghan Erdman for a layup with 35 seconds left and then saw its momentum slowed by the delay.
“You are trying to get on with the game and it messed up our flow,” Donn said.
Smithtown West (2-6) cut the lead to one before Prep got a jumper from Meghan Erdman to make it 29-26 with 1:01 left in the first half. Play was then stopped, after a referee lost his footing, in order to get the court properly taken care of. The coaches and officials then decided to break for halftime, come back and play the final 1:01 and immediately start the third quarter.
“That might have helped us,” Terriers Coach JoAnn Wagner said. “It was a one-point game and then we scored the basket. We had a larger lead and we were beginning to come unraveled.”
St. Francis Prep came back from the break and again used its defense and passing to build up a lead. Lenard hit a three-pointer and Halaby found Lenard for a layup to make it 52-41 with 30 seconds left in the third. Sneeka Center scored 31 points, but could not get the Bulls closer than 54-49 with 6:59 left in the fourth as Prep finished off its most complete performance of the season.
“Last year we didn’t have any of that,” Donn said. “It’s taken a long time to get it, but it pleased our coaches and it pleased me.”
