Another great season by the Massapequa High School girls basketball squad ended in disappointment last Wednesday as the Lady Chiefs lost a tough 57-54 decision to Hicksville.

Although Massapequa played well, they were up against an emotionally charged Hicksville team. In a previous playoff game, Hicksville defeated Elmont, 60-57. However, during that game, Gregg Petrocelli, the Elmont coach, suffered a heart attack. Petrocelli did not recover from the attack and died on Feb. 27.

Petrocelli's untimely and tragic death formed a bond between the Hicksville and Elmont players. And so, the Hicksville girls went into the game with added emotional incentive. Since Massapequa has the best team on Long Island, every other squad wants that much to defeat them. But the Hicksville girls had the emotional support of the Elmont players. Before the game, Elmont team members even presented each Hicksville player with a T-shirt that carried Petrocelli's likeness and the legend, "RIP Petro."

In the game itself, Hicksville had a 37-31 lead with 5:03 left, only to see Massapequa come back and tie the score at 39-39. However, a last second 3-point attempt by Janine Aldridge failed to drop and the Lady Chiefs' comeback attempt came up short.

Nicole Michel led the Lady Chiefs in scoring with 14 points. Ms. Aldridge and Suzi Fregosi each had 12 points, while Ashley Caiafa chipped in with 9 points. Hicksville was led by Michelle Kurowski, who scored a career-high 28 points, including 11 third-quarter points, Courtney Bean assisted Ms. Kurowski by scoring 20 points.

Despite the heartbreaking defeat, the 2006-07 Massapequa team had another great run. This year, they were undefeated prior to the loss to Hicksville.

The two previous seasons, the Lady Chiefs took home consecutive Long Island titles, before going all the way to the New York State semifinal game.

Graduating seniors from this year's squad are Amanda Balducci, Nicole Michel, Ashley Caiafa, and Suzi Fregosi. They will certainly be remembered as the core of one of the great girls basketball squads in recent Long Island history.

"They meant everything to the team," said head coach Shari Roessler of the four seniors. "As a group, they brought the team together that had us acting like a family.

"It was a great season," Coach Roessler continued. "We ran into some things at the end that were disappointing, but it was a great team."