Mepham Girls Basketball Pulls Off Comeback Against Calhoun

For the first time this season it looked like the Mepham Lady Pirates were going to lose on Friday night at Calhoun High School, but Mepham chipped away at an 11-point deficit and came back to defeated Calhoun Lady Colts 51-49 in the Conference AA-III inter-district game.

After trailing for most of the game and falling to an 11-point deficit at one point in the third quarter, the Lady Pirates evened it up late in the fourth quarter when eighth-grader Megan Anderson banked in a three-point shot.

After exchanging a series of free throws, junior superstar Kristen O’Brien nailed a three-pointer to give the Lady Pirates their first lead since the first quarter.

Sophomore Nicole Castaldo hit a jump shot with under 30 seconds remaining to seal the deal for Mepham.

“Calhoun played great defense,” Mepham head coach Jim Mulvey said. “I give them a lot of credit. They played us tough man-to-man the whole time.”

Calhoun was led early by senior Meghan O’Sullivan, who, although fouled out late in the game, finished with a game-high 15 points.

Juniors Jessica Ruggiero and Dana Silvester each finished with 11 points, while junior Danielle Losee scored nine.

“Even though we lost I think we put together a good, solid game,” Calhoun captain Ellie Rosenblum said after the loss. “We had our chances at the end and we made silly mistakes, but I think we stuck through it the whole way.”

Castaldo led the way for Mepham with 14 points, followed by sophomore Mary Galgano with 12, including five big points in the fourth quarter to draw the Lady Pirates within two.

O’Brien added 11 points and senior Jill Picinich scored a season-high eight points to go along with six steals.

Score: Mepham 51, Calhoun 49

Records: Mepham 8-0 (11-0); Calhoun 5-3 (7-3)

Heroes: O’Sullivan came up big for Calhoun early. She had a game-high 15 points and scored all seven of the Lady Colts’ first-quarter points.

“She’s phenomenal and she really brings a major aspect to this team. It wouldn’t be the same without her,” Rosenblum said of O’Sullivan’s play. “She fouled out and got hurt, but she pushed through it and she’s still going to come back. She’s still going to be there tomorrow at practice. She pushes us to get better.”

On the other side of the ball, Picinich played her best game of the year. Her eight points were huge, but her hustle and six steals kept the Lady Pirates in the game.

“Jill Picinich, who does not score for us, plays great defense all the time, and she went 4-for-4 from the field with eight points,” Mulvey said. “She hit a few little layups. She’s not going to bang the outside shots, but she hit some crucial two-pointers in the first half.”

As Mulvey said, Picinich was 4-for-4 from the floor and had three big layups in the first half.

“I saw the space because I knew they were going to be covering Nicole [Castaldo] and O.B., so I knew I had to make move and try to get open,” Picinich said.

Turning Point: Calhoun led for most of the night, but some big shooting for Galgano in the fourth quarter got the Lady Pirates back in it. However, it was Megan Anderson’s floater three-pointer that banked in off the backboard to tie the game at 43-43 that gave really turned the tides.

“I saw a girl coming up and I just kind of threw it up there hoping that it would go in and it did,” Anderson said.

“She’s a great shooter and great shooters get those sometimes,” Mulvey added.

After two free throws from Ruggiero and Anderson, then a gorgeous three-pointer from O’Brien, a play was called for Castaldo and the sophomore did not disappoint.

“We usually a run a play for O’Brien, but we decided to put Cole at the point, which we ran against them the first time. She got a short little baseline jumper. Less than 30 [seconds] and she hits the big shot.”

Quotable: “We were stale on offense,” Mulvey said. “But when it came down to it though, they made shots, bank or no bank, it’s in the bank.”

Bottom Line:  The Lady Colts gave Mepham its toughest game of the season. Calhoun has a lot to be excited about and may get a shot at redemption in the playoffs.

“I think it was the best team, group game we’ve played all year,” Rosenblum said.

The Lady Pirates inched closer and closer all night long and never gave up. Their hustle increased as the game move along.

“We were diving on loose balls to get the ball back and that helped a lot,” Picinich said.

It was also the first time in a while that the team played man-to-man defense.

“We said we were going to play man at some point, it was going to work for us, and tonight was the night where we had to get down and dirty,” Mulvey said. “… I thought our man defense stepped up.

“It was a tough game. … It’s amazing,” Picinich said of the comeback. “Now we’re 11-0 and it feels great.”

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