The Cold Spring Harbor girls basketball team went into halftime knowing something had to change. Sure, the Seahawks had a one-point lead, but the nerves took over early with a trip to the county finals on the line.
“We talked about having poise and confidence,” coach Rory Malone said. “We were getting the shots we wanted, we just had to believe they were going in and once we saw the first couple go in, I think we started building off that.”
No. 2 Cold Spring Harbor outscored No. 3 West Hempstead by 16 points in the third quarter en route to a 53-34 victory in the girls basketball Nassau Class B semifinals at Hofstra on Monday.
The Seahawks (15-5) advance to play top-seeded Locust Valley (20-0) in the Nassau Class B final at Hofstra March 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Cold Spring Harbor outscored West Hempstead 23-7 in the third quarter and 31-13 in the second half after leading 22-21 at halftime.
“We just came together and had a starter’s talk and said, ‘We have to pick it up here. We have to go on a run,’” senior Ava Tighe said. “And that’s what we did.”
Tighe and Cleo Dallaris each had 13 points, Angelina Pavlakis had 10 points and Gracie Kiernan had seven points in the win. Dallaris had nine of her 13 points in the third quarter.
“Once I started getting into it, I felt it and I got excited to be out there,” Dallaris said. “In the first half, I was definitely nervous but in the third, I just wanted to come out and play.”
Isabel Tavarez had 14 points for West Hempstead (10-10).
Cold Spring Harbor displayed great ball movement throughout much of the second half, an aspect of the game the team takes pride in.
“I don’t know if our program’s ever had a 20-point [per game] scorer,” Malone said. “It’s not the way we play. We’ll take it if we can get it, but we are more like, ‘Let the ball do the work and find the open shooter.'”
Next up will be a tall task for Cold Spring Harbor as Locust Valley is one win away from tying the longest winning streak in Long Island girls basketball history. Locust Valley has won its last 51 games, with its last loss on February 14, 2019.
“Why not, right?” Malone said. “You never know, you have to play the game. They obviously have the streak going there, they’re an excellent team, no doubt about it. But we’re excited about the opportunity to play them once more time.”
