Aquila, Stuart, defense lift Division
Division's Kristin Aquila shoots past Cold Spring Harbor's Kate Hackeling. (Dec. 12, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It felt as if it were going to be a long night for Division. The Blue Dragons trailed by 13 at halftime and were unable to get much going offensively. Then they switched from man-to-man to zone defense, and the deficit slowly shrank.
Kristin Aquila's basket with nine seconds left put Division ahead and Laura Stuart hit a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining as the Blue Dragons defeated host Cold Spring Harbor, 42-39, Monday night in Nassau non-league girls basketball.
"We're a man-to-man team," Stuart said. "When we went to zone, I was like, 'OK, maybe it'll be easy on us and maybe we'll get a comeback,' and we did."
Stuart (seven points) had positive and negative thoughts race through her mind as she went to the free-throw line for a one-and-one in the closing seconds.
"If I miss, I'm going to mess up the game and everyone's going to be mad at me," Stuart said, "but if I get it in, everybody will be happy."
Kelly Vassallo and Katie Durand totaled 18 first-quarter points as Cold Spring Harbor went ahead 20-7.
Division's zone defense in the second half frustrated the Seahawks, who took mostly three-pointers with no success. Vassallo (13 points) and Durand (nine) each had only one basket in the second half, when Cold Spring Harbor (0-1) was limited to eight points and Division responded with 24.
Susan Ballantyne led Division (2-1) with 11 points and played a crucial role on the inside of the Blue Dragons' zone.
"I was looking to make sure they never got to the basket," Ballantyne said.
Trailing 40-39 with 8.6 seconds left, Cold Spring Harbor had the ball but turned it over.
Division coach Steve Kissane said the Blue Dragons haven't played zone in "years," but after this dramatic comeback, he might reconsider his affinity for man-to-man.
"We played strictly man," Kissane said. "I may have to work on that a little bit more in practice. I'm looking at this as a real positive. At halftime I was a little discouraged, but not so much now."
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Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 17: Olympics a possibility for Long Beach wrestler? On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks with Long Beach wrestler Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez about pursuing a third state title and possibly competing in the Olympics in 2028, plus Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week.
