Mineola Girls Hold Off Late Plainedge Run 43-42

It took all four quarters Tuesday afternoon, but the Lady Mustangs varsity basketball team was able to hold off a pesky Plainedge team 43-42 at Mineola High School.

Led by junior Kerri Medlock, who recorded her fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Mineola was able to stay ahead of Plainedge with a stingy defense that registered 20 steals in the game.

"We have our moments of brilliance on the defensive end," head coach Denise Zunno said after the game.

The Lady Mustang's hopped out to an early lead in the first, opening the game with an 11-3 run. Up 7-3, senior Heather Gessner stole an inbounds pass from Plainedge, and after missing her first shot, she grabbed her own board and converted the second chance to put Mineola up by six.

Sophomore Julie Falotico, who finished with six assists and 3 points, found senior Krystie Kern cutting to the basket two plays later to push Mineola's lead up to 11-3.

Afterwards, Zunno said that Falotico "looks for the great pass out there."

By the end of the first, Mineola was on top 15-7.

The second quarter was a sloppy one as Plainedge and Mineola combined to turn the ball over five times in the first six possessions, and 16 times overall.

Medlock scored first in the period, giving Mineola a 17-7 lead. Plainedge scored the other 4 points in the period, with two free-throws and a lay-up by Dolores Diemicke. Going into the half, Mineola led 17-11.

"Sometimes we have these moments, these brain freezes," Zunno said, adding "they can play with energy when they want to." After the half, Mineola showed what Zunno was talking about.

Faltoico found Medlock under the basket on Mineola's first possession to open the third, letting the Lady Mustang's put up an 8-3 run that cut the lead to 22-19.

But Mineola was able to clamp down at the end of the period, as Medlock connected on a jumper to stop the run, and then junior Tiffany Klein nailed two free-throws after she stole a Plainedge pass and was fouled going up for a lay-in.

Mineola led 26-23 at the end of the third.

In the fourth, Plainedge was able to cut the lead to one, 26-25 after scoring the opening bucket. Falotico answered by finding Kern on a fast break, only to have Plainedge score on a fast break of their own on the next possession.

Junior Kalie Medlock, who finished with 6 points and eight rebounds, converted two free-throws on Mineola's next possession to push the lead back to 30-27 and spark a 7 point run for the Mustang's.

Gessner drilled a three off of a Falotico pass to cap the run and give Mineola a 35-27 edge.

But Plainedge continued to chip away at the lead.

Led by Michele Daubman, who scored 20, Plainedge chipped away at the lead with three three-pointers by Daubman to cut the lead to 43-40 with under a minute to play.

Needing to just run out the clock, Gessner threw a pass to Kern that she didn't expect, giving Plainedge the ball back.

On Plainedge's possession, Medlock seemed to seal the game with a block of Diemicke, but Plainedge was able to get the ball back again, and Lauren Auletto hit a jumper to make it 43-42 with less than two seconds left.

But Mineola was then able to get the ball inbounds to Medlock, who held onto the ball as time expired.

While Zunno hoped to hold out Plainedge better, she said that if her "team can play with energy, they can play really well."