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Sports

East Girls Clamp Down On Pat-Med

Arrows hold Raiders without field goal for more than 15 minutes in rout.

It’s always had a noteworthy offensive prowess, but the Sachem East girls basketball team is hoping to match that reputation with gritty team defense. On Monday night against League I foe Patchogue-Medford, the Arrows put forth the effort that head coach Matt Brisson hopes to see on a nightly basis going forward.

Using a swarming press defense, Sachem held the Raiders without a field goal for more than 15 minutes of game time, registering a workmanlike 46-15 victory. On an evening when it was off the mark offensively, East made sure its opponent was too.

“You’re going to have nights like that, when the ball doesn’t go in,” Brisson said. “To hold any team to 15 points is pretty good."

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The victory came on the heels of a 67-65 overtime win at William Floyd on Friday night in which the Colonials’ Monique Walker poured in 32 points. It was the most points logged against East (10-0, 9-0 League I) all year long and only the second time a team had topped 50.

“We need to pride ourselves more on making it difficult for teams to get through us,” Brisson said. “We needed to come out tonight and do work on the defensive end.”

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Pat-Med (2-10, 1-7) kept it close with the Arrows early, tying the game at 7 on a Aileen Yaeger three-pointer with 1:45 left in the first. However, that’s when the Raiders went cold and East pulled away. Sachem’s Katie Doherty accounted for nine straight points – all on three-pointers – during the Arrows’ 14-2 run to close out the half. During that time, Pat-Med hit just a pair of free throws, facing a 21-9 deficit at intermission.

“It’s the same story,” Raiders head coach Jeff Hansen said. “We play hard, we never give up, but we were given opportunities and we just didn’t take advantage of them.”

East stayed on the gas pedal in the second half, outscoring Pat-Med 25-6 over the final two quarters to win going away. The Raiders weren’t short on effort; they managed to hold the Arrows to their second-lowest scoring total of the season.

“The effort is tremendous; the execution just isn’t there,” Hansen said. “They’re one of the top two or three teams in the county. We just can’t make the mistakes we’re making against a team like that.”

Meagan Doherty led all scorers with 11, while Yaeger topped all Raiders with six. The Arrows were able to empty their bench, with many of their reserves finding the scoring column. Christina Schretzman, who Brisson called “dangerous,” scored a career-high seven, securing it by sinking 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.

Team 1 2 3 4 Total Patchogue-Medford 7 2 4 2 15 Sachem East 12 9 14 11 46
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