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Eight for Korbin in Newfield's loss
Girls basketball
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Senior Julie Flaherty scored 17 points and hauled down 17 rebounds as West Islip defeated host Newfield 41-23 in League III girls basketball action Tuesday night. Flaherty, 6-1, was controlling the backboards. Flaherty scored seemingly at will from inside and effectively connected on several short 10 to 15 jumpers from outside.
Despite the 18-point loss, this was a game the Wolverines could have won. Newfield forced 31 West Islip turnovers yet managed to connect on only five of 51 shots from the floor. Their shortcomings on the floor were matched by their 13-for-27 shooting from the foul line. Through the first 10 games of the season the Wolverines have averaged just 33.4 points per game while winning just two of their first 10 games.
"We are super young," said Newfield head coach Paul Bertram. "The kids play hard but they are going to have to work on individual skills in the offseason. As it is I focus on individual skills for 45 minutes of every practice. I've never had to do that before."
The Wolverines connected on just two of 21 attempts from the floor in a first half in which they scored just 11 points. In fact, the Wolverines first field goal of the game didn't occur until 3:41 of the first quarter. Similarly, Newfield failed to score a field goal until 1:14 was left in the second quarter. By then they were trailing 19-10. Despite their struggles with shooting, the Wolverines ended the half trailing by just eight points at 19-11.
The Wolverines shooting woes continued into the third quarter where once again their first field goal came with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter. Until then Newfield had managed four points on free throws. West Islip on the other hand enjoyed their best offensive production scoring 14 points and extended their lead over the Wolverines to 16 points as the teams entered the final quarter.
With nothing left to lose, Bertram implemented the Wolverines patented full court press to start the fourth quarter. The move flustered the Lions as they repeatedly turned the ball. Newfield then went on a 6-0 run to cut West Islip's lead down to 10 points at 33-23. But they would come no closer. Nor would they score another point the rest of the way. West Islip finished the game with an 8-0 run as the Wolverines were left wondering when their offense would kick in.
Freshman Ashley Korbin paced the Newfield offense with eight points and seven rebounds while sophomore Jordan Buffa chipped in with six points and seven rebounds.
With the win West Islip improves their record to 1-2 in League III action while Newfield falls to 1-3.
Newfield has eight games left in the season. The team will compete today at Smithtown East at 5:45 pm. They then take on top-ranked and undefeated East Islip at home two days later for a 1:45 pm start. On Jan. 21 the Wolverines host another competitive team, North Babylon, one of the top leaders in the league. Game time is set for 5:45 pm.
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