O'Connor's big 2nd half boosts Harborfields
Harborfields' Alexia O'Connor shoots past a Kings Park's defender in the Suffolk High School girls basketball game. (Jan. 13, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Alexia O'Connor was well aware of her lack of offensive aggressiveness in the first half Thursday. After scoring two points, the Harborfields junior guard knew she needed to take a different approach in the second half.
She did just that, and didn't waste any time. O'Connor scored five points in the first 41 seconds of the third quarter and totaled 12 of her 14 points in the second half of a 46-38 victory over host Kings Park in a battle for first place in Suffolk League V girls basketball.
O'Connor also had 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Bridgit Ryan had 14 points and eight rebounds.
"I wasn't attacking too much in the first half," O'Connor said. "I knew I needed to contribute more."
Kings Park (8-3, 4-1) led 23-20 at the half before O'Connor hit a layup and a three-pointer to open the second half. That gave Harborfields (8-3, 5-0) a 25-23 lead, its first since the opening possession.
The lead then changed hands a few times, with Harborfields taking a 34-31 lead into the final quarter.
Kings Park's Meghan Eckel (18 points) hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 34 before O'Connor's jumper gave the Tornadoes the lead for good at 36-34.
"She got hot at the right time," Harborfields coach Russ Tietjen said. "She gave us a spark. She's going to be another offensive weapon for us this year."
Daniele Buoncore hit a jumper to bring Kings Park within 39-38 with 3:31 left, but Harborfields' Amy Werbitsky scored with 3:19 left and Ryan drove for a layup with 1:01 left to make it 43-38.
Harborfields, which defeated Kings Park in the Suffolk Class A final last season for its third title in four seasons, allowed 15 points in the first quarter but didn't allow double digits in any of the remaining quarters. The Tornadoes outscored Kings Park 26-15 in the second half.
"Once we played the first quarter, we figured out how to stop them," Ryan said. "We pride ourselves on our defense. When a girl drives, we're always there to help and stop her."
Kings Park is a team that thrives on getting points in transition, and the Tornadoes didn't allow the Kingsmen to run.
"We didn't get the ball to our point guard quick enough to do what we do," Kings Park coach Tom Edmundson said. "We definitely didn't play a good team game. We had to start pressing a little bit and they beat it. We had to put some pressure to get some easy baskets and we weren't able to do it."
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
