Lady Bears Fall Short Despite Solid Effort from Younger Players

When senior floor leader Brannon Burke went down in the first quarter with a back injury, the Stony Brook School varsity girls basketball team got big contributions from other seniors and their younger girls, but fell just short in a 37-36 loss to Bayport-Blue Point Friday evening.

The Lady Bears went into halftime tied at 15, and after letting the Phantoms go on an 8-0 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter, they answered back with a 7-0 run of their own before the third quarter ended at 24-21.

Seventh-grader Arianna Odom hit two big shots late in the fourth to bring the Lady Bears within one, but the Phantoms took a three-point lead with six seconds left to the free throw line and hit one to put the game out of reach. The free throw proved to be even bigger than expected as Jessica Winston hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer from half court. Unfortunately for the Lady Bears it was too little, too late.

 “We were hoping to get the three-point shot and one,” coach Amy Helm laughed, “ She had a great look, attacked and again with your starter out the way they stayed in it, kept scrapping and gave themselves an opportunity down the stretch in a situation like this that’s all you can ask for.”

Natalie Istrati had a monster game on the glass with 21 rebounds while adding six points. Winston had a double-double with a team-leading 16 points and 10 assists. Odom finished with six points, as did Danielle Pappas.

“I thought they showed a lot of poise and composure,” Helm said. “It was a great opportunity for our younger girls, they really attacked the boards. We gave up too many second shots but it’s great for our younger girls in a non-league game to learn how to dig and get position. Down the stretch I couldn’t ask for more in terms of our senior leadership given the circumstances.”

Odom, a seventh-grader, started the game and had four big points late in the fourth quarter to keep the Lady Bears close.

“She’s shown a lot of poise this season playing varsity,” Helm said. “We’re really excited about how she’s coming along and developing. She’s got really strong fundamentals. She’s going to continue to mature, get stronger and quicker as she gets older so she’s got a huge upside in the future. She plays all year-round so she’s got the commitment level to be a great player here on Long Island down the road.”

The Lady Bears return to league action on Tuesday, Jan. 18 against Southold at 4:30p.m.