Lady Cyclones' Forwards Dominate Paint; Beat Bethpage 55-42

Coaching against her former team, Katelyn Dunn and the girl's basketball team capitalized on an undersized Bethpage team who struggled with their three-point shooting to win their first league game, 55-42.

Before the game, Golden Eagles coach Tom Gargiulo led the crowd in a round of applause for Dunn — a former Golden Eagle All-American —, and during the game, he saw his team miss 22 of its 31 three-point attempts, opening the door for the Lady Cyclone forwards to dominate in the paint.

Forwards Megan Lonergan and Christina Merrifield worked well together on the blocks, using their size to gain position for easy buckets. Dunn said she was impressed with what she saw out of her forwards, who are learning to play off of each other.

"I don't think they had an answer for us on the inside," Dunn said. "Christina and Megan worked very well. They looked more comfortable with each other and I don't see why they won't be able to dominate the rest of the season."

Gargiulo said he was happy with what he saw from both teams and his former All-American player.

"I'm really proud of her, she did a great job," he said. "She has an outstanding team and she showed a lot of respect. It was like David versus Goliath out there, so I'm proud. We missed a lot of threes, but we hung in there and gave maximum effort the whole time."

Lonergan finished with a game-high 19 points and seven assists, while Merrifield added 14 points and a pair of assists, hitting four of her six free throws. 

South Side guards Allie Bannon and Meghan Hines effectively ran the offense, feeding their forwards on a series of basket cuts and screens.  More importantly, they controlled the pace of the game, and kept the team calm when the Golden Eagles got hot in the fourth quarter and cut the Cyclones lead to six.

"The guards really controlled the ball all game," Dunn said. "They could have buckled and stressed there at the end, but they kept their calm. Our team really responded when it got close there."

With her homecoming out of the way, Dunn will now look to get her team ready to play Plainedge on Tuesday. She said she hopes that her star forwards continue to dominate the inside and her guards continue controlling the game's pace.

"I'm looking for another win [against Plainedge]," Dunn said. "It's another game that will be determined on how well our guards move the ball and control the floor."