Emily Carmel Shoots East to Victory

Story by Anthony Vertucci ...

Sophomore Emily Carmel dealt out another stellar performance Thursday evening as Sachem East ran to a 48-38 victory over Commack.

Carmel put up her highest scoring game of the season with 20 points, which included five three-pointers. This was the fourth double-digit game for Carmel in a still very young season.

Sachem led for practically the entire game after consecutive three-pointers from Carmel and Victoria Hassett made it 6-2 early in the first quarter. Freshmen Kathleen Everson scored four of her seven points in the opening quarter; including a basket in the final seconds to give Sachem (5-1, 3-0) a 19-8 lead.  

“They’re a tough team and they have several players with top shelf individual talent,” said Commack head coach Denis Conroy. “They’ve got four kids who can handle the ball and that always makes your job that much harder when you’ve got some kids that can break you down. Meagan Doherty did a great job of handling the ball and setting kids up.”

Commack fought back, going on an 8-0 run and limiting Sachem to a mere two points in the second quarter. The Cougars’ momentum carried over to the second half when co-captain Colleen Walker hit a three-pointer to bring the game to 21-20. 

Sachem answered back with a 9-1 run over the next four minutes, which included a three-pointer and two free-throws from Carmel and field goal from Jamie Doherty. Carmel hit four three-pointers in the third quarter alone to help the team enter the fourth with a 14-point lead.     

“In the first half we were kind of just chuck and ducking,” said East head coach Matt Brisson. “Third quarter we came out and moved the ball better and created more openings. We had a rough second quarter but I’m impressed with their overall defensive effort. We were able to hang in there and weather that storm.”

 Walker hit her third three-pointer of the game to start the final quarter, cutting the Cougars’ deficit to 39-28. Guard Samantha Lee scored four of her six total points in the fourth but Sachem’s 18-8 assault in the third quarter proved to be the difference in the game.

“We’re still establishing chemistry,” said Brisson of his squad which includes a combined nine freshmen and sophomores. “Kids are still figuring out what their roles are. We’re very young and are still in the process of learning.”

Meagan Doherty scored eight points for Sachem and Kathleen Everson contributed seven, including a 3-for-3 showing from the free-throw line. Walker led Commack with 12 points, while Lane and Kerry Haller scored six each. Commack’s 7-for-15 performance from the line played a major factor in the game’s outcome, as Sachem went 10-for-13.

“We had a couple of misses down the stretch there,” said Conroy of his Cougars. “We might have been able to take the lead but bottom line is they just have a little too much firepower for us to handle.”

Sachem hosts Ward Melville on Tuesday while Commack heads to Patchogue-Medford.

Check Sachem Patch Saturday for a story about Sachem basketball legend Nicole Kaczmarski making her broadcasting debut during the Sachem-Commack game.

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F

Sachem

19

2

18

9

48

Commack

11

9

8

13

38