Lady Vikings Finish Strong

No points in the second quarter?

No problem.

Port Washington's offense did enough in the first, third and fourth quarters of Monday's Conference AA-III girls basketball game at Long Beach to pull out a 37-34 victory in the finale for both teams.

It was the third straight road win for the Lady Vikings, who finished 9-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play in Dennis Trottier's second season as coach. "We gutted out our share of wins," he said. "It's nice to finish above .500. It was one of our goals."

Emily Rosenthal had 10 points and Hayley Kerr and Emma Horowitz added nine apiece to lead Port Washington, which was outscored 11-0 in the second quarter but held the Lady Marines to nine points in the second half of a game that mirrored the first between the teams. On Jan. 14, the Lady Vikings outscored Long Beach by 16 points in the fourth quarter for a stunning 45-39 win.

"I thought Emma came up huge today on the boards," Trottier said of Horowitz, a senior who had 15 rebounds. "She controlled the paint in the second half."

Long Beach appeared to be in control at the half with a 25-14 lead. Shannon Romig, a recent call-up from JV, scored five of her eight points in the second quarter and Natasia Hurd, who had a game-high 12 points, added a basket just before the buzzer. "We played a great first half, but we're too inconsistent," Long Beach coach Lori DeVivio said.

Port Washington's second-half spark came in the form of Chrissy Commons, who hit a pair of shots and brought intensity to the defense in the third quarter. The visitors enjoyed a 10-point spurt and got to within one, but Hurd's two free throws allowed the Lady Marines to carry a 27-24 lead into the fourth.

"We only made a few minor adjustments at the half," Trottier said. "Chrissy really lit the fire for us. She got everyone going."

The final quarter was back and forth, and Port Washington's struggles from the foul line nearly came back to haunt it. Rosenthal went 4-for-4 to give it a 32-29 lead with 4:44 remaining, but the team shot 3-for-11 inside of two minutes and had to sweat out a few Long Beach three-point attempts to hold on.

After Romig's three-pointer tied it with 2:35 to go, Horowitz sank the go-ahead free throw and Kerr converted a Christina Leonard pass to put Port ahead 35-32. Gia Vaccaro brought Long Beach within one with 20 seconds left, but Kerr nailed two free throws to provide the difference.

"Though I am extremely happy we won our last game of the season, I can't help but be upset," Horowitz said. "This was my last basketball game for Schreiber ever. To be honest, it's weird. I am going to miss this so much, but I am glad to end on a high note."