Malings powers Division girls to Class A title

This late in the season Division knows Lynbrook's well-structured script, but Saturday at C.W. Post it was the Dragons' Taylor Malings who showed a flair for dramatic.

Lynbrook, the powerful shooting team that was responsible for Division's only loss this year, could stage no rerun of its Jan. 14 victory. Malings sank three treys, two to kick-start the Dragons in the first quarter, helping defeat the Owls, 41-31, and claiming the Nassau Class A girls basketball title. With the win, Division advances to face Harborfields at the Long Island Championship at Hofstra on March 12.

Malings and Nicolette Parmese had a team-high 12 points, while Parmese added 14 rebounds. Shannon Doody led all Lynbrook scorers with 10. "We knew what to expect [from Lynbrook]," Parmese said. Indeed, the teams have clashed twice before, splitting the season series 1-1. "We knew we could beat them and we know we could cover their shooters well."

Perhaps the biggest target of Division's unwanted attention was shooting guard Brooke Gerstman. Gerstman, one of Lynbrook's big three, along with Doody and Jessy Rosen, scored 17, with four from downtown in the Owls upset of Garden City last week. She had no such free range with 6-foot senior Kristen Costello guarding her. Gerstman was held to two points and was routinely smothered by defenders in the paint.

The Dragons (19-1) went on runs in the second and third quarter, outscoring Lynbrook 12-7 and 13-4. Division kicked off the second with an 8-0 run, aided by a sloppy Lynbrook's seven turnovers in the frame. They struck again in the third, this time to the tune of an 11-2 run that carried Division to within 1:59 left in the quarter - capped by a steal and drive to the basket by Malings and a layup by Kristen Stuart.

"I was so nervous in the beginning," Malings said. "But once I got up there, I was pumped up."

Lynbrook rallied with a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter. The Owls (13-8) failed to take advantage of ample opportunities, though, shooting 4-for-17 from the field and eventually growing cold with a minute left to play.

"We thought they were dictating the pace of the game and we didn't like that," Doody said. "We made a conscious effort to speed things up but it didn't work out. We didn't cut it."

With the chapter on Lynbrook closed, the end of Division's story remains very much in the air, said coach Steve Kissane. "I don't know what's going to be next," he said. "We're playing with house money."