Lady Spartans claim top spot

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A balanced lineup and confidence gained from last season's success led the Lady Spartans to the Conference ABC-V title with a record of 11-1. Their memorable campaign ended last Friday in the first round of the Nassau Class A playoffs with a 66-37 loss to top-seeded Garden City.
"A conference championship is something we've been working toward for three seasons," North coach Kathy Gray said. "It was exciting. I'm most proud of the way we defended all season. Our defense kept us in every game and we always had a few girls score in double figures."
Junior point guard Elizabeth Miller led the Lady Spartans in the playoff loss with 15 points and forward Rakiyah Marshall, their only senior, added nine points and 16 rebounds. Garden City had three players hit for double figures, led by Barbara Sullivan's game-high 16 points. "I think we were a little nervous, but the girls played hard until the end and I couldn't have asked for anything more," Gray said. "They have their place in history."
In finishing atop a conference for the first time since 1987-88, the Lady Spartans (12-7 overall) had four players average at least seven points per game. Freshman guard Madeline Nelson paced the offense at 11 points per game, junior forward Jacqueline Canny averaged 10, Marshall 9.5 and Miller 7.5. Marshall was the team's leading rebounder at 12 per game, followed by Canny at 10 per contest.
"We moved the ball well, made good decisions and played strong defense," Gray said. "I think the switch to ability grouping prior to last season helped us tremendously. We became involved in competitive games all the time and built some confidence by winning most of them."
North, which won nine of 14 conference games last winter, could be headed up to Conference ABC-IV based on its projected number of returning players for 2009-10. Marshall, described by Gray as the team's "heartbeat," is sure to be missed, but Miller and Canny will be fifth-year varsity players. "I was impressed by Elizabeth's decision-making as the season progressed, and Jacqueline has a turnaround jumper that's tough to stop when she gets the ball in the low post," Gray said.
Nelson, who had some big efforts as an eighth-grader, scored 15 points in the 53-22 conference-clinching win over Bethpage on Feb. 7. Marshall, with a little help from sophomore Michelle Nevarez, held Lady Eagles' leading scorer Kylie Gregory to five points, 13 below her average. Marshall also scored 10 points and ripped down 12 rebounds. "We had to have that game to win the conference outright," Gray said. "We had a great crowd and it helped us set the tone right away."
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