Blue Devil Girls’ Pull it Together
After three surprising losses to non-league opponents, the Huntington girls’ basketball team opened the league season with an impressive victory at home over Sayville, 61-37. The win couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Blue Devils entered the season with an eye on the Suffolk title that eluded the team last year when it dropped a one-point decision to Harborfields. But, after losing games to Kings Park, Herricks and Half Hollow Hills West, Huntington was a team badly in need of a victory and it got it with outstanding performances from its starting five and bench.
“I’m happy with the way the girls played,” head coach Brad Reminick said. “Those first three games were a wake up call. We need to play faster and harder than everyone else and we did that tonight.”
Senior Casey Scully poured in 16 points and recorded eight steals while juniors Kerry Hicks (14 points, 11 assists) and Julie Forster (14 points, 16 rebounds) turned in exceptional efforts. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and held a nine-point advantage after eight minutes of play. The lead grew to 23 points by halftime, 39-16.
Junior guard Maria Marascia had her finest game of the year, too, connecting for six points, playing tenacious defense, forcing turnovers and dishing out numerous assists.
After squandering healthy leads in all three losses, the Blue Devils were determined not to let the same thing happen a fourth time. Huntington led 57-27 after three quarters and the five players on the court were all business right until the final buzzer.
“We found out what we were made of tonight and that’s a good thing,” Reminick said. “After losing the first three we were a bit down but we showed that we can bounce back.” Let by Hicks, the team’s floor general, Huntington established its running game early and Forster and junior Matte Scully gave the Blue Devils a strong inside presence, which created continuous opportunities.
“Julie and Matte have really been major rebounding forces the last two games,” Reminick said. “They are both playing fantastic. Casey played a terrific game, too. She held an All-County player to two points. That says enough.”
Matte Scully scored five points to go with a series of strategic rebounds and Meredith McCourt, Kate Mitchell and Lauren Visbal scored two points each, respectively. Caitlin Ortiz also contributed off the bench to the winning effort with good ball handling and plenty of hustle.
“Everyone did a great job, and that includes the bench,” Reminick said. “They cheered the whole game and were loud. Everyone played a role.” Huntington was in need of a win, especially after suffering a last second loss to Hills West in the opening round of the Suffolk Shootout at Northport last Saturday, 55-54.
The three non-league losses are now ancient history as the Blue Devils have regained their footing and both players and coaches are anxious to start a winning streak. “Hopefully, we learned from our letdowns and will now get on a roll,” Reminick said.
Blue Devil Notes: Hicks sunk the game’s only three-point basket . . . Forster scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half . . . Casey Scully has signed an NCAA Letter of Intent to attend Iona College and play on the women’s lacrosse team there . . . Kailene Abt and Morgan Hughes, who both held starting positions on last year’s county runner-up squad are now attending Notre Dame and the University of New Hampshire, respectively.
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