McKee/Staten Island Tech moved further from victory with each overtime. The Seagulls, who led most of the game, had chances to win in regulation and a few hustle plays would have provided more opportunities late in the first overtime.
“We would go on a run. They would go on run,” senior forward Alicea Ulmer said. “We would get really cold and it took awhile for us to come out of that cold.”
Her fouling out and a thin roster led to fatigue for MSIT in the second overtime of an eventual 69-61 loss to St. Mary’s (L.I.) in the Rose Classic Super Jam at Bishop Ford Saturday morning. Kaitlyn Astel scored 27 points, Ulmer had 16 and Kelin Walsh chipped in 12 for Tech. All four of the team’s losses are to Long Island opponents.
“They ran out of gas,” Seagulls coach Peter LaMarca said. “We didn’t play overly well today. They did a good job St. Mary’s. We just didn’t play well today. I knew it from the beginning.”
Queens native Maddie Jankowski, the Gaels’ St. Francis College-bound guard, scored the first six points of the second extra session to make it 62-56. Despite a poor shooting night and just three first-half points, Jankowski scored 22 points, including three 3-pointers, and went 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
St. Mary’s point guard Neila Collins tallied 22 of her 24 points in the second half, including a 3-point play off an inbound pass from Jankowski to increase the lead to 67-59 with 53.6 seconds left. MSIT (13-4) scored just four points in the final period as it lost its inside-out combo with Ulmer on the bench. Olivia Iacono was already fouled out.
“Losing her was definitely tough,” LaMarca said of Ulmer. “Even if she doesn’t score points she is a presence on the court.”
The Seagulls took a 46-43 lead with 43 seconds left in regulation, but the Gaels (6-7) climbed back at the free throw line. Collins made one of two after a near 3-point play on an out of bounds play and Jessica Mattone made two. Astel connected on just one free theow with 9.4 seconds left to tie things up at 47 and send the game to overtime.
Before Ulmer fouled out with 36.7 seconds left in the overtime, MSIT had two chances to reclaim possession, but could not corral a rebound and a loose ball after a Ulmer block. It left LaMarca yelling, “Black get the ball!” Collins would make one of two free throws and Astel made two foul shots to tie the score at 56 after the first overtime.
“It just kept hitting out of our hands,” Astel said. “Both teams keep tipping it. For me it was so frustrating. I was like can anyone grab the ball?”
MSIT did grab early leads. It went ahead 23-15 on an Ulmer 3-point play late in the first quarter. She led a 10-0 run to put the Seagulls ahead 33-24 with 1:57 left in the third, but wasn’t able to be on the floor to finally close out the win. It was MSIT’s second overtime loss of the season after falling to Sachem East (L.I.) in the Bergtraum Holiday Classic.
“It was frustrating, especially having to watch the last four minutes of double overtime from the bench,” Ulmer said. “You can’t help.”
