Lady Pirates Use Big Fourth Quarter to Advance Past Hicksville in Playoffs

After being crowned the Conference AA-III champs during the regular season, the No. 5 Mepham Lady Pirates basketball team showed they were ready for the playoffs on Thursday when they defeated the No. 12 Hicksville Lady Comets 46-39 in the first round of the Class AA tournament at Mepham High School.

Senior Jill Picinich had a career-high 13 points, including eight in the first half, while sophomore Mary Galgano added 11 points in the second half and 13 overall to lead the Lady Pirates.

Sophomore Nicole Castaldo grabbed 14 rebounds to along with nine points and junior captain Kristen O’Brien scored eight.

Mepham managed to hold Hicksville’s 5-foot-10 sophomore Caitlyn Garger to just seven points, thanks in part to some key defense from Picinich.

The Lady Pirates fell behind 10-4 early, but stormed back with eight straight points to close out the first quarter.

Mepham led late in the second quarter before Hicksville eighth grader Jillian Wynne hit two straight three-points to give the Lady Comets the lead at the half.

Galgano kept her team in the game in the third quarter by scoring eight straight points for her team, including two three-pointers. But Mepham still trailed by two entering the fourth quarter.

However, it was the fourth quarter that separated the two teams. Picinich and O’Brien each had five points in the fourth as the Lady Pirates outscored Hicksville 16-7 to win the game.

Score: Mepham 46, Hicksville 39

Records: Mepham 16-2; Hicksville: 10-8

Heroes: Picinich and Galgano tied for a game-high 13 points and both players hit pivotal shots throughout the game.

Galgano missed the team's last three games after injuring her ankle and was not at 100 percent heading into Thursday’s game, but that didn’t stop the sophomore from hitting three three-pointers.

“We held Garger to seven, they held O’Brien to eight, so it was the next tier kids,” Mepham head coach Jim Mulvey said. “Galgano, first game back coming of the injury, [had] 13 points. Picinich, maybe a career-high, 13 points, and guarded the best kid on their team.”

Picinich, the only starting senior on the team, used that as motivation to help lead her team.

“As a senior I didn’t want it to be my last game, so I knew I had to play my best,” she said. “I knew they were going to take away O.B. and Mary, so I had to step up. Even though my shot isn’t the best, I tried my best and it worked.”

Turning Point: The game was back and forth for a while. The Lady Pirates held a two-point lead midway through the fourth quarter when Galgano hit a huge three-pointer, which triggered a 7-0 run.

“When I started practicing two day ago after the injury, I just worked on my shooting even though it bothered me, but it worked,” she said.

Quotable: “Our second tier kids beat their second tier kids today, so that's a total team effort," Mulvey said.

Bottom Line: The fifth-seeded Lady Pirates proved they could do what needs to be done to win in the playoffs.

“They did an excellent job. O.B. didn’t get her ‘normal’ 22 points, but she passed the ball a lot and got open,” Galgano said of her team. “Jill had 13 points, [it was a] big game for her. … It was a huge team effort.”

Moving forward into next week’s second-round matchup against the MacArthur Lady Generals, Mepham will need to continue its teamwork if the team wants to advance to the county semifinals.

“No one on our team is an individual,” Picinich said. “O.B. never cares about her points. She always tries her best and always opens it up for other people. No one really cares about points.”

Who's Next? Feb. 23, Mepham at MacArthur, 6 p.m.

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