Ava Tighe, Cleo Dallaris lead Cold Spring Harbor into Nassau Class B final
Ava Tighe of Cold Spring Harbor, right, gets pressured by Emma Shinsato of West Hempstead during the Nassau Class B girls basketball semifinals at the Mack Sports Complex on Monday. Credit: James Escher
The Cold Spring Harbor girls basketball team went into halftime Monday knowing something had to change. Sure, the Seahawks had a one-point lead, but with a trip to the county final on the line, the nerves took over early.
"We talked about having poise and confidence," coach Rory Malone said. "We were getting the shots we wanted, we just had to believe they were going in, and once we saw the first couple go in, I think we started building off that."
No. 2 Cold Spring Harbor outscored No. 3 West Hempstead by 16 points in the third quarter in a 53-34 win in the Nassau Class B semifinals at Hofstra.
The Seahawks (15-5) will play top-seeded Locust Valley (20-0) in the final at Hofstra on March 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Leading 22-21 at halftime, Cold Spring Harbor outscored West Hempstead 23-7 in the third quarter.
"We just came together and had a starters’ talk and said, ‘We have to pick it up here. We have to go on a run,’ " senior Ava Tighe said. "And that’s what we did."
Tighe and Cleo Dallaris each had 13 points, Angelina Pavlakis scored 10 and Gracie Kiernan added seven for Cold Spring Harbor. Dallaris had nine in the third quarter.
"Once I started getting into it, I felt it and I got excited to be out there," she said. "In the first half, I was definitely nervous, but in the third, I just wanted to come out and play."
Isabel Tavarez had 14 points for West Hempstead (10-10).
Cold Spring Harbor displayed great ball movement throughout much of the second half, an aspect of the game in which the team takes pride.
"I don’t know if our program’s ever had a 20-point [per game] scorer," Malone said. "It’s not the way we play. We’ll take it if we can get it, but we are more like ‘let the ball do the work and find the open shooter.’ "
Next up will be a tall task for CSH. Locust Valley has won 51 in a row and is one win away from tying the longest winning streak in Long Island girls basketball history. Its last loss was Feb. 14, 2019.
"Why not, right?" Malone said. "You never know, you have to play the game. They obviously have the streak going there, they’re an excellent team, no doubt about it. But we’re excited about the opportunity to play them one more time."
