MSIT’s Kelin Walsh had seven points, including a big 3-point play in the fourth. (An Rong Xu)
Peter LaMarca calls Brenna DeRosa his best defender. The McKee/Staten Island Tech junior forward is known for that, rebounding and playing hard all game. But she certainly is not known for her scoring.
In the fourth quarter Tuesday, though, DeRosa had a bit of a role change. She scored five straight points, including a 3-point play, to help get the Seagulls back in it. And with just eight seconds remaining in the game, DeRosa put back a Kelin Walsh miss for what would end up being the winning basket in MSIT’s 48-46 victory over Manhattan Center in non-league girls basketball in East Harlem.
“I didn’t even catch it for more than a second and I threw it right back up,” DeRosa said, her eyes still wide. “It bounced to the other end of the rim and then the other end of the rim and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ And then it went in. It was the best feeling ever.”
She had five of her eight points in the fourth quarter, where the MSIT came back from a 41-33 deficit with just 5:39 left. DeRosa stepped up without senior center Alicea Ulmer, who suffered a concussion Sunday in a loss to St. John the Baptist, and the offensive post work she has done with coach John Calhoun paid off.
“Brenna didn’t give us anything last year in terms of points,” LaMarca said. “She did play tremendous defense. She always does. This year she’s able to put the ball in the basket. That’s awesome. I’m so happy for her.”
The Seagulls (8-2), ranked No. 5 in the PSAL by The Post, have had a knack for clawing back into games recently. On Sunday, they found themselves down 17-0 in the first quarter against St. John the Baptist, a team that started the season with a national ranking. But they managed to climb within five points in the fourth and pushed the Cougars to the limit.
On Tuesday, the deficit wasn’t as extreme and the level of competition not as strong. But it was impressive nonetheless.
No. 6 Manhattan Center (4-6) was playing its best basketball of the season and taking advantage of the absence of Ulmer with baskets inside and second-chance points. But MSIT junior guard Kaitlyn Astel knocked down a momentum-swinging 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 42-38 with 5:15 left and then found Walsh for a layup and foul inside. The sophomore point guard converted the 3-point play to pull Tech within one, Olivia Iacono followed her own jumper with a putback layup and Astel (25 points) hit a pullup and 1-of-2 free throws to give the Seagulls a 46-42 lead with 1:20 seconds left.
“We’re not the scariest team,” LaMarca said. “We don’t look quick. But we play very smart. We’re very tough. We don’t stop playing. We don’t ever stop playing. That’s the thing I’m the most proud of.”
Manhattan Center wasn’t done fighting either. Freshman point guard Cashmir Fulcher made a pair of free throws and Brea Castro Gambrell (16 points) and Yen Pham each made 1-of-2 from the line to tie things up at 46 with 26.2 seconds left.
On the other end, Walsh (seven points) bobbled the ball at the top of the key, got it back and drove down the lane on the right side. Her layup in traffic missed, but DeRosa gobbled it up on the weak side and put it back up and in. Fulcher’s 12-footer that would have tied the game bounced off the front of the rim and MSIT secured the big road victory.
“Never in my dreams did I think that,” DeRosa said. “No one really sees what I do. I do more defense, rebounds, things like that person. Three, four points a game tops. But to get the winning basket, I never felt this feeling before.”
It was MSIT’s first non-league win of the season, missing out on chances against SJB and Long Island Lutheran, and this will help the Seagulls in playoff seeding in February. More than that, it proved a point for a team that didn’t come into the season with high expectations.
“We had to show the city that we can beat these teams,” Astel said. “Especially without Alicea, we had to come together. I think it was pretty awesome that we won and we showed everyone that we can beat a team from Manhattan.”