Close-knit MacArthur in contention

MacArthur girls’ basketball is united on and off the court in its quest to reach the postseason.

Sixth-year head coach Dave Radtke said his players have shown dedication going back to last summer to improve on last season’s four-win campaign through team workouts and social gatherings with the chemistry continuing throughout this 2019-20 campaign. That devotion was on full display after a hard-fought 39-31 loss to Garden City on Jan. 15 when after the game players opted unanimously to hold practice at 6 a.m. the next morning so they could focus on studying for midterms after school.

“They are dedicated kids and a very disciplined group,” said Radtke of his team, which entered the week at 7-5 overall and 3-4 in Conference A1. “Every day I’m getting a great effort from them.”

A 36-20 win against New Hyde Park last Saturday snapped a three-game losing streak and provides the Lady Generals momentum heading into the second half of the league schedule. MacArthur had 11 different scorers while New Hyde Park to just two points in both the second and fourth quarters.

Senior guard Shannon Kilian has provided an offensive spark in MacArthur’s run-and-gun system predicated on defensive pressure and forcing turnovers. The athletic Kilian, who is committed to play women’s soccer at Stony Brook this fall, tallied eight points in the fourth quarter of a 43-39 non-league win against Cold Spring Harbor under the bright lights of NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on Dec. 27.

“She does everything she can to win,” Radtke said of Kilian. “She is phenomenal.”

Radtke said senior Tara Sweeney and junior Hailey Hnis have also been instrumental in leading MacArthur’s 15-player rotation where there is constant subbing to keep players fresh. The Lady Generals are wreaking havoc on defense and Radtke said if forced turnovers can be converted more into baskets then the stretch drive of the season provides tremendous potential.

“We are getting about 56 to 70 shots a game,” Radtke said. “Defensively I feel we have one of the top teams in the conference.”

MacArthur begins the second part of its league schedule on the road this Thursday in a rematch with Calhoun, which the Lady Generals defeated 51-41 on Dec. 16 led by 14 points from Marissa Cardon and 12 by Ava Angiuli. The Lady Generals then travel to Long Beach Tuesday before returning home for a Jan. 30 game against Herricks at 6:45 p.m.

The Lady Generals need four more wins to qualify for the Class A playoffs with at least a .500 conference record. Radtke said achieving the necessary wins will be challenging in tough league, but stressed that if MacArthur can find its way into the postseason there is potential to make some noise given its fast pace hat many teams are not used to.

“People don’t want to play us because they don’t see many teams with that style,” he said. “We get up and down the floor.”