Sara Kealey (21 points) makes six threes to lift MacArthur past Garden City
MacArthur’s Sara Kealey at the line during a Nassau Class A girls basketball playoff game against Garden City on Saturday at MacArthur. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
The MacArthur girls basketball team closed the regular season on a 14-game winning streak, but knew that none of those victories meant anything in Saturday’s postseason matchup.
However, the eighth-ranked Generals wasted little time showcasing the skills that led to that dominating run as they defeated No. 9 Garden City, 59-41, in the first round of the Nassau Class A playoffs. MacArthur (18-3) will visit No. 1 Manhasset (20-1) in the Nassau Class A quarterfinals on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
MacArthur scored 30 of the game’s first 36 points, going on a 28-2 run lasting nearly nine minutes to take a 30-6 lead with 4:28 left in the second quarter.
“That was big,” said Ava Angiuli, who scored 18 points. “We started off in the lead and we just wanted to keep that lead. We wanted to keep going and going, and we never stopped.”
Sara Kealey scored nine of her game-high 21 points during that run.
“We just came in and worked as we always work. It was a complete team effort,” Kealey said. “We just had to play smarter and with more pace.”
Kealey made six of MacArthur's 10 three-pointers. Coach Dave Radtke said every player on the team has the “green light” to shoot, and was happy with Kealey’s play.
“That’s Sara’s game,” Radtke said. “Sara can handle the ball and she can shoot. She’s a great off-the-ball shooter. She really gets herself in a nice zone and lets it go.”
MacArthur led 38-19 at halftime and 49-29 after the third quarter. Garden City (15-6) opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, but couldn’t bring the score to within single digits. Brianna Santopietro had 17 points for Garden City.
Marissa Cardon added 10 points for MacArthur.
“The girls are ready,” Radtke said. “They’re ready to go and they are having fun. They really do a good job staying together. We had a week to prepare and it was a really good game, we really played well.”
MacArthur understands the difficult test awaiting them with top-seeded Manhasset, but is ready for the challenge.
“Manhasset’s going to be tough,” Radtke said. “Everybody says we match up probably better than most because I have athletes like they do, but they’re tough. They are very well coached but you know what, we are playing with house money. Let’s see what happens.”
