Floral Park's defense puts brakes on Bethpage

The more things change, the better the Floral Park girls basketball team feels.

With a deep defensive playbook, the Knights aren’t afraid to change their approach at any point in a game, switching up looks with everything from a full-court press to zone or lockdown man-to-man.

That mindset was on full display Monday afternoon as the Knights showcased a handful of defenses, including a brand-new look that coach Michael Spina drew up in the second half, to top Bethpage, 49-32, in Nassau A-IV.

“We’d never done [that defense] before and we tried it,” said freshman center Maya Bateau, who had eight points and six rebounds. “We pay attention to detail. We understand what we’re doing, and I think that means our IQ is good.”

Floral Park held the Golden Eagles to 12 second-half points, sparked by a 26-4 run in the third and fourth quarters.

After a second quarter that Spina called “stagnant,” the Knights (11-0) focused on pace in the third, grabbing back their momentum with a high-tempo press.

“I thought we needed to speed [Bethpage] up and once we did, we got a couple of turnovers,” Spina said. “We do run in spurts. That 26-4 run, though, that’s a pretty good spurt.”

Bolstered by their defensive efforts, the Knights settled into their offense as well and, with 2:25 left in the third, Erin Harkins gave Floral Park a lead it would never surrender, hitting a three-pointer after a quick sidestep move to shake her defender.

“We’ve been working on that kind of play,” said Harkins, who finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four steals. “Once we get started, we can’t be stopped.”

Bateau, who followed Harkins’ go-ahead basket with a spin move in the post, echoed the sentiment, adding that the Knights play “good when we’re playing fast.”

“The first half, everything was slow,” Bateau said. “As soon as it changed, we were playing so good, getting fast breaks, easy layups, good post moves and good shots off.”

Bethpage (5-6) cut the deficit to eight with six minutes left, but Floral Park’s defense held. The Knights kept Bethpage off the board for over three minutes in the fourth and extended the lead to 19 with 2:39 left.

Spina credited the Knights for their play late, including seniors Amanda Kozak and Jaeda Delsoin, as they took every change in stride until finding the right defense.

“The girls have an ability to adjust and adapt to the style of play,” Spina said. “We work on it, we try to figure out what defense is going to work. When we find something that works, we’ll stay with it.”