High School Girls Basketball

BY ADAM RONIS

If the previews are incomplete, give me a pass. It's 5:40 a.m. and I have yet to sleep. I wanted to get it done, so you can see them prior to the games.

Playoff record: 55-10

Both games at Stony Brook tonight
L.I. Class AA championship, 8:30 p.m.
North Babylon (19-5) vs. Hicksville (17-4): A rematch of last season's game won by North Babylon. There were very fews easy games for Hicksville, which compiled a tough non-league schedule and played in ability-grouping. Hicksville starts four seniors, including Michelle Kurowski, Courtney Breen, Erin Breen, Karly Cohen along with junior Kelly Dempsey. Hicksville defeated Calhoun, 64-58, in overtime of the Nassau Class AA title game. Courtney Breen had six of her 29 points in overtime. Breen and Kurowski are a great duo and work real well together. Cohen and Erin Breen can also score and the team plays good defense. I think the turning point of the season for North Babylon came in the final regular season game against Copiague. NB played awful defense for the first three quarters and trailed by 19, and made a furious rally, cutting it to five before losing. Since then, NB has played terrific defense. They pressure the ball and fluster the opponent. On offense, it's all junior Eugeneia McPherson and sophomore Bria Hartley. McPherson doesn't have a huge build, but she's extremely strong. Hartley is a three-sport star, also playing soccer and lacrosse. They can score inside or outside, are quick and athletic causing nightmares for the opposition. Kelly Whitaker has hit some big shots as well as Caitlin Fifield. Maliqua Fisher does the dirty work, getting rebounds and playing excellent defense. This should be a close game, but until I see some team even slow down the duo of McPherson and Hartley, I can't pick against them. PICK: North Babylon

L.I. Class A championship
Floral Park vs. Huntington, 6 p.m.: These two teams are very similar. Both are well-coached, get contributions from several players on offense and play very good defense. Floral Park showed great resiliency in the Nassau Class A final against Westbury. Floral Park couldn't hit any shot the first three quarters, but kept firing away. FP scored 22 points in the final quarter to win 44-43. Ericka Re has been the top offensive player in the playoffs and she scored 14 of her 19 in the final quarter, including the winning shot. Floral Park has some size with three starters 5-10 or bigger. Megan Galvin is a protypical point guard, Kate Hartnett is a very good defender and can hit the three and Shannon Ingram is very good on the boards. Justine O'Callahan is also strong inside. Floral Park has almost its entire team back from last season when it lost in this game to Harborfields. Brad Reminick has done a great job building the Huntington program. Junior Kerry Hicks is a very good point guard and shoots well from the perimeter. Julie Forster is strong on the glass and is the main threat inside. Casey Scully is a very good defender and Maria Marascia can score. Expect a low-scoring game in the 40s. PICK: Floral Park