BASKETBALL

Blue Devil Magic Fails At Empire State Games

When your team loses by 40 points or more, the only thing you can do is shrug it off and put it behind you. That’s exactly what four Huntington High School girls’ basketball players did when their Long Island regional team was crushed by powerful squads from the Hudson Valley and Western regions in the Empire State Games at Westchester Community College.

Casey Scully, Kerry Hicks, Julie Forster and Maria Marascia earned spots on the roster, giving the Long Island squad a decidedly Blue Devil flavor. Unfortunately, the team had limited practice opportunities and it showed as they never were able to gain any rhythm or consistency, going long stretches without scoring in their first game against Hudson Valley. Down 34-20 at the half, Long Island ended up losing 77-37 with the “Huntington four” scoring a combined 10 points, led by Scully’s five.

Among the crowd filling the stands was Blue Devil basketball coach Brad Reminick. “It was pretty amazing seeing all four girls on the court at once today,” Reminick said. “I wish the result was a bit better but to have all four of them playing together representing Long Island, I was pretty proud! It was tough to watch because I wanted to coach them the whole time. On the other hand, it was cool to see them play from a different perspective.”

A mere 24 hours after the opening round blowout, Hicks exploded for 20 points, including a pair of three-pointers and 6-for-10 shooting from the foul line but it wasn’t enough as Long Island dropped a 51-39 verdict to the Adirondack regional team. All four Huntington players scored, including Marascia, who also connected on a three-pointer.

The four Blue Devils were instrumental in Huntington’s march to the Suffolk finals last winter when the team featured an extremely fast paced offense that was dependent on exceptional conditioning and the ability to score from anywhere on the court. That style of play requires daily hard practices, which wasn’t possible for the Empire State Games team.

In the third round, Long Island found itself down at halftime, 51-16 en route to an 87-40 loss. Hicks led the local contingent with eight points and Scully added seven more.

Outside the arena, Scully said summer play can’t be compared to the regular season.
“It’s a lot different,” she said. The intensity isn’t the same and neither is anything else.
But, every time a player steps on the court they improve, so the Empire State Games gave the Blue Devils an opportunity to take their game to a new level.

Scully will return to high school in the fall as a senior and the other three players will be juniors. Huntington is coming off its best season ever and appears to have a bright future as a program. “I think the next couple of years are going to be very special for all of us,” Reminick said.

-Contributed by Jim Hoops