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RECAP: Jan 3rd - Long Beach @ Carey |
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Long Beach 23 - 36 - 57 - 66, Carey 6 - 18 - 30 - 42. Jazmine Pitts and company were too much for Carey. In the 1st quarter alone. Long Beach had 5 players score. Pitts once again spent most of the time looking to get her teammates involved in the offense. Whether they were running or in a half court set, Long Beach moved the ball crisply often finding teammates wide open. 8th grader Samantha Cody and Morgan Fitzpatrick combined for 8 points in the paint. Meanwhile, Carey's Kristen LiCata received very little help from her teammates. Most of this had to do with Long Beach's swarming defense, which forced Carey's guards into numerous turnovers. In the second quarter, Carey came to life and played Long Beach fairly even. LiCata's teammates stepped it up at both ends of the court. On the offensive end, Carey started to crash the boards which resulted in them getting to the free throw line 6 times. Unfortunately, Carey went 1 for 9 from the free throw line. Again Pitts distributed the ball to open teammates, especially Rashida Dokes. Dokes had 5 points as she held the block while Pitts penetrated the defense and dished to her open teammmate. Carey's defense made a concerted effort to prevent Pitts from scoring this period but her quickness and ability to pass of the dribble were still too much. In the 3rd quarter, Pitts' game kicked into another gear. Pitts was everywhere - at times it looked like she was out running passes. Her defensive intensity on the ball alone allowed her teammates to be more aggressive behind her. Carey's LiCata and Nicole Sullivan were the only two Lady Seahawks, who could handle this type of pressure to some degree. In the final period, Pitts would leave the qame with 6 minutes to go but not before registering 2 beautiful assists to Cody on the block. Carey continued to play hard and attack the basket in the final quarter - resulting in 7 trips to the free throw line. Long Beach has quickly established themselves as the team to beat in their league. Pitts' play has been consistent to date - get my her teammates involved early and often, while still scoring between 26 - 33 points a game. The development of Cody in the paint will help as the season progresses. Teammates Natashia Hurd and Audrey Moore like to get out on the wings and run when Pitts has the ball. Again the only question is can Pitts teammates give the same kind of production in the crossover games? Long Beach's last test in league play will come when they play Port Washington. Carey tried every imaginable defense to stop Pitts and in the end, she still was able to control the game. Carey's Sullivan and LiCata need more help from teammates Courtney Norrell (nice effort on the boards), Arianna Politis (helped bring ball up) plus Alexis Carida, Kerry Gilroy and Nicole Catapano. Carey when they did break Long Beach's press got to the basket, they just couldn't finish. They also have to do a better job from the free throw line.
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