Jones spurs Freeport in 2nd half

It wasn't the way Monique Jones was hoping to begin the playoffs. The Freeport point guard picked up two fouls in just four minutes and spent the rest of the first half on the bench.

"As a point guard, sitting on the bench is pretty hard," Jones said. "Watching the game, not making the plays, but I had faith in my team to carry the game on even when I'm not playing."

Jones overcame foul trouble to score all of her 13 points in the second half and Deasia Goodson had 10 points and 11 rebounds for No. 7 Freeport in a 44-32 home win over No. 10 Long Beach in a Nassau Class AA girls basketball first round playoff game Friday night. Freeport (11-6) advances to the quarterfinals at No. 2 Massapequa (15-2) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Freeport coach Meredith Jones said she considered putting her floor general back in but decided to wait it out. Freeport's offense was slower and had several errant passes without Jones running the point.

"We didn't play hard enough in the first half. Even in the first quarter when Moe was in, we didn't have the intensity that we needed," Meredith Jones said. "We took care of business finally in the second half. Now we just got to play a lot better the next round."

Sabria Grayson (six points) gave Freeport a 16-15 lead at halftime and the Red Devils never looked back.

"I'm thinking with a one-point game that I have to come back out strong and lift my team back up because they were a little slow without me," said Monique Jones, who had five rebounds. "I came back and kept up the intensity and we just pulled it out."

SEE PHOTOSFreeport, 44, Long Beach 32

Jones had seven points in the third quarter as the Red Devils outscored the Marines 15-5 to take a 31-20 lead.

Mary McDonagh had 11 points for Long Beach (8-10), which cut the score to 36-28 with less than three minutes to play.

Jones was 6-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 2:23 and was 11-for-13 in all as she drew repetitive contact driving the basket.