Sullivan makes sure Garden City seals the win

Barbara Sullivan didn't want a case of convenient amnesia. The Garden City senior had flashbacks to Thursday and remembered how the Trojans had a 17-point lead with five minutes left in the third quarter and scored two points the rest of the way in a two-point loss to Division.

It looked like it might happen again Saturday. Garden City held a 10-point advantage late in the second quarter and New Hyde Park took the lead early in the third quarter.

Then Sullivan took over, scoring nine consecutive points in a span of 1:24 of the third to give host Garden City control for a 52-41 win in a Nassau Conference A-I girls basketball game. Sullivan tied a career high with 29 points and added six steals and five assists. Christina Mangels had 10 points and 16 rebounds for Garden City (11-3, 7-2).

"It was definitely on my mind," Sullivan said of the loss. "We blew it. I wasn't going to let that happen again. It's my senior year and it's my last chance. No one wants to lose like that. Everything fell apart."

Garden City led 31-27 at the half and New Hyde Park (9-6, 6-4) took a 35-33 lead with 5:38 left in the third on a jumper from Gabby Tomasini.

Then it was Sullivan time. She hit two free throws with 4:19 left to tie the score at 35. She scored on a drive to the basket, hit a three-pointer, and a jumper with 2:55 left to give the Trojans a 42-35 lead. Mangels capped an 11-0 run with a layup off a pass from Liz Stutzmann.

"She didn't want to lose," Mangels said of Sullivan. "She does whatever it takes. She's an amazing three-sport athlete."

SEE PHOTOSGarden City 52, New Hyde Park 41

Sullivan also gave credit to Mangels, who does all of the little things that coaches love. She rebounds, gets to loose balls and finds people going to the basket with crisp passes.

"It doesn't matter how many points she scores," Sullivan said. "She helps me get a lot of my points. They're usually from her rebounds."

The duo then combined on the defensive end to thwart New Hyde Park 6-2 center Ciara McCullagh. She scored eight points in the first quarter, but finished with 13, including just two in the second half to go along with 12 rebounds. She took six shots in the second half. "We have to get some better ball handling," NHP coach Hughie Flaherty said. "We have to make better passes. The first half we hit some shots and in the second half we didn't."

Maria Katsoulis scored on a putback late in the third to bring NHP within 46-39 before Sullivan scored on a putback and hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 51-39. New Hyde Park scored just two points in the final quarter.

"When we got a lead and they came back, I think [Thursday] got on their minds a little bit," Garden City coach Anthony Sparacia said. "The leadership of Jess Stein, Sullivan and Mangels showed. We took a shot in the mouth, but they responded very well. When we play to our potential we can be very good. It will be a lesson for us."