Girls basketball: Mahopac rediscovers the winning formula against Brewster

BREWSTER - Melanie DeMeo stepped into a 3-pointer from the top of the key, splashing a textbook release as time ran short.

Game over.

There were still three quarters to play and Mahopac only had a 15-12 cushion, but the Indians suddenly had needed confidence from behind the arc. Cold hands contributed to a 3-3 start, but Julie DeBrocky and DeMeo got dialed in quickly Tuesday during a 51-39 win over Brewster.

It might be a turning point for a team with high expectations.

"That felt so good," DeBrocky said of her team's five made 3s in the opening quarter. "I think it makes everything we do better when shots are dropping and the chemistry is on point. That comes from practice. We’ve all been playing together and working hard. A good start made it easier for us. We didn’t wait until the second half to play the right way. We got them right off the bat."

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Mahopac adjusted the offense and played through Lauren Beberman, who kept the ball moving and got everyone touches.

"I’m good with it," the junior forward said. "That’s a fun way to play because I’m able to get my teammates involved and they were scoring. I can still get points off my defense and transition game."

The Indians hit 10 times from behind the arc in all.

And the defensive intensity was high right from the start, forcing the Bears to launch from uncomfortable spots deep in the shot clock.

"Our energy was not there," Brewster forward Grace Galgano said. "I don’t think we represented ourselves very well, but they were playing good defense and we were struggling. They were hitting a lot of 3s and that drained our energy, too, so it was a tough night."

Turning point

Mahopac was in blitz mode during the second quarter, giving up just six points and taking a 25-18 lead on a Beberman 3-pointer just before the half. There was no let up after the intermission, and the lead grew to 41-26 in the closing seconds of the third.

Player of the game

There hasn't been much of a presence in the post all season for the Indians, which is a concern against teams like Brewster with size and talent inside. Jess Sterbens got the start Tuesday and collected seven points, nine rebounds and two assists.

By the numbers

Mahopac (4-3, 1-0): DeBrocky had 15 points, all on 3s. ... DeMeo added 13 points. ... Beberman finished with 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals.

Brewster (6-2, 0-1): Grace Galgano got plenty of attention from Beberman and Sterbens, but came up with another double-double, collecting 12 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. ... Sophia Alzugaray had 11 points. ... Madison Dakin had six points and seven rebounds.

Quotable

"It was huge to have Jess play like she did today and get all those rebounds and be strong for us down low," Beberman said. "(Grace) Galgano is a good player and it can be hard for us not having any true bigs, so to have Jess step up let us kind of imitate the way we played last year."

Mike Dougherty covers boys soccer, boys lacrosse, girls basketball and golf for The Journal News/lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls basketball: Mahopac finds shooting touch at Brewster