Brewster Girls Rip Yorktown, Come Up Short vs. Lakeland

BREWSTER—The Brewster High girls basketball team picked up a 46- 24 victory over Yorktown last Friday, but the Bears didn’t fare as well at Lakeland two days earlier, coming up on the short end of a 50-38 verdict. Brewster opened the week with a 65- 60, non-league victory over Briarcliff on the road.

Friday against Yorktown (2-11), the Bears went up 14-8 after one and 23- 13 at halftime.

Lauren Quattrocchi led Brewster with 16 points, Vania Simpri added 13 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and Emily Tapio added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Jenna Gambino had 10 points to lead the Cornhuskers.

Brewster improved to 11-3 overall and 4-3 in League 1-A play.

Against Lakeland (9-1), the Hornets played without Tori Jarosz, and Brewster was without Tapio (out sick).

The Hornets got a strong game from Kristin Pappalardo, who had 20 points.

Simpri’s 10 points and eight rebounds led the Bears, who also got nine points from Marisa Delzio.

“With Tori out, Pappalardo stepped up,” Brewster coach Doris Schukin said. “We didn’t defend well, and made some mistakes. They got to the basket too much… a lot of layups. We’ve got to tighten up our defense.”

Brewster played much better against Briarcliff, breaking the team’s ninegame win streak in the process.

Brewster did not start well, going down 23-10 after one quarter. But the Bears recovered and crept back in – clinching the win after erupting with a 27-9 run in the fourth. Brewster also came up with 12 steals in the game.

Quattrocchi had the hot hand and burned Briarcliff for a career-high 29 points. Delzio added 14, Tapio added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Simpri came through with 11 rebounds and three points.

“It was a big test for us to play a team of that caliber,” Schukin said. “We were very disappointed with the effort in the first half. But in the second half, our defensive effort made all the difference. Lauren had a big fourth quarter with 14 points, and played one of the best games of her career. She not only scored, but played defense and blocked shots. She had a huge game. Tapio also picked up the defense and got a lot of rebounds – she really started our turnaround.”

Brewster plays Monday at Panas at 4:30, and visits Carmel Wednesday at 6 p.m.