Sports
Wantagh Warriors Ground Lady Cyclones, 53-43
Costly turnovers down South Side in first round of Freeport Holiday Tournament.
Plagued by costly turnovers and poor free-throw shooting, the Lady Cyclones lost to Wantagh 53-43 in the opening round of the Lady Devils' Basketball Invitational in Freeport on Tuesday.
South Side started the night cold at the free throw line, hitting on only three of ten first quarter free throws, and finished just 14 of 34. They also committed 24 turnovers — seven in the final quarter — with several coming after they narrowed the Lady Warriors lead to four with 2:25 left in the game.
Lady Cyclones coach Katie Dunn said she was upset with her team's poor free-throw shooting night, as well as their inability to close out opponents.
"We committed some silly turnovers, especially there at the end, and we did not finish well," she said. "From the beginning, we also had our issues at the line which caused us some trouble."
The Lady Warriors, however, cashed in at the charity stripe, sinking 21 of 26. Wantagh's defense also harassed South Side's leading scorer Megan Lonergan in the paint, holding her to a season-low 10 points — eight of which came at the free throw line — while limiting her minutes due to foul trouble.
"They were doubling down on Megan and doing a good job of keeping the ball away from her with their defense," Dunn said. "It's hard for her to put up her big numbers when they're denying the girl the ball all game."
Though Lonergan has carried South Side to an undefeated 2-0 league record, the Lady Cyclones need other scoring options when opponent's double team her. Senior Brianna McNally led the team with 11 points and Lauren Lopresti finished with five points before fouling out in the fourth.
Dunn said it's important for others to step up offensively if they hope to continue their winning ways.
"We need to have other kids step up in the points department when Megan is doubled or having an off day," she said. "Our shooting percentage today was way off. We saw some pressure and didn't spread the floor well. Wantagh had a good game plan for us."
The Lady Cyclones will face Roosevelt on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
