No. 2 LuHi falls to No. 5 Montverde Academy in home opener
Syla Swords of Long Island utheran brings the ball downcourt during a Nassau girls basketball game against Montverde Academy in Brookville on Friday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Long Island Lutheran girls basketball team had knocked off ranked opponents from all parts of the country over its first 13 games of the season. But the Crusaders couldn’t best the No. 5 team in the nation in their home opener Friday.
Long Island Lutheran, ranked No. 2 in the country by ESPN, fell to No. 5 Montverde Academy, 67-60, in a non-league matchup.
“This one definitely hurts because it was the first [home game], but we still have a lot of games coming up,” said Kate Koval, who scored 13 points. “We just have to learn from this one and keep going.”
The Crusaders (12-2) have had a memorable start to the season — albeit all away from Glen Head.
LuHi won the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions in Mesa, Arizona in December, defeating then No. 1 Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.) and No. 4 La Jolla Country Day School (San Diego, CA) during the tournament. LuHi had a 9-0 record after winning the title and climbed to No. 1 in the nation. It fell to No. 2 in ESPN’s poll after suffering a 59-48 loss to St. John Vianney (New Jersey) on Jan. 13.
But a strong second half by Montverde Academy, of Florida, was too much to overcome Friday.
The Crusaders led 35-29 at halftime before Montverde Academy opened the first 2:15 of the third quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 36-35 advantage. After a three-pointer by Syla Swords accounted for the Crusaders’ first points of the second half, Montverde Academy (19-1) went on a 12-0 run over 3:16 to take a 48-38 lead with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
“We always talk about coming out of halftime you get to go one of two ways,” coach Christina Raiti said. “The first three minutes can pretty much dictate how the course of the game is going to go and I think we came out unfocused.”
LuHi entered the fourth quarter trailing 52-44 but went on a quick 5-0 run to cut Montverde Academy’s lead to three points. But that was the last time the score was within one possession.
The Crusaders started strong with a 21-10 lead after the first quarter, including closing the period on a 12-2 run. But Montverde Academy opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run to cut LuHi’s lead to 21-18 two minutes into the period in the matchup of top five national teams.
“I’d rather always play the best of the best because although we’re not ready to be at the top right now, I think this is a group that can,” Raiti said. “But these are really important lessons that need to be learned.”
