Lady Trojans Crowned Nassau County Champs

Editor's Note: Article by Gary Simeone; photos by Ed Rotondo

The Nassau County championship game between Garden City and Floral Park at C.W. Post Saturday afternoon turned out to be just like the previous two games the Trojans played.

The game would come down to the final minutes as both teams battled back and forth with Garden City ultimately pulling out the hard earned victory.

That seems to be the script for the Trojans during this magical playoff run as they knocked off Floral Park 40-36 to advance to the Long Island championship game.

The Trojans got off to a good start in the game as sharp shooting sophomore Becky Reifler hit a quick three and in inside floater to give Garden City an early 5-2 lead. Their other star, sophomore Samantha Auricchio, ended the quarter with back-to-back baskets to give Garden City a 15-8 advantage.

Floral Park would get back into the game in the second quarter on the strong shoulders of their dominant center, Lorraine Hickman. The sophomore was a force inside the paint collecting multiple rebounds and giving the Lady Knights second chance opportunities. She was able to establish herself down low and Garden City had no answer as she scored successive baskets to bring Floral Park back into the game. The Trojans, who went cold from the floor late in the quarter, went into the locker room with a one point halftime lead, 21-20.

"We knew we were going to have to double her in the second half," said Garden City coach Antony Sparacia of Hickman. "She was moving people out of the way with her body and we knew we had to disrupt her a little bit."

The Trojans did a good job of that to start the second half and also found their shooting touch as freshman Kerry McCarraher hit a big three-point shot to give them a 28-22 lead. But they were not out of the woods yet as Hickman, despite the double team, worked her way inside to score and tie the game at 29 early in the fourth quarter.

The final minutes of the fourth quarter were clenched knuckles time as Hickman and freshman guard Caroline Peppard hit a big outside shot to give the Knights a brief 36-35 lead. But that lead would be truly brief as Reifler came back down the court and hit a jump shot inside the key to make the score 37-36. The Trojans were able to ice the game on the free throw line with Auricchio, McCarraher and Taylor Carpentier all hitting big free throws.

"Reifler had some big shots for us at the end and Tara (DeAngelo) rebounded the ball great today," said Sparacia. "But overall i thought it was our defense that helped us win the game. Floral Park had a couple of spurts but I thought we did an excellent job of holding them off."

The Trojans will try to continue their magical run as they face Harborfields High School in the Long Island championship next Saturday at 3 p.m. at Adelphi University.

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Second Half Surge Sends Trojans to County Finals