This season's Mineola high school girls varsity basketball team has had to battle for everything it's gotten. So, the fact that the Lady Mustangs went into the holiday vacation with a record of 4-5 was a plus.

The season opened with a non-league loss at Oceanside 40-38, a game Mineola seemed to have in hand heading into the fourth quarter. Everything unraveled at that point and the result was a loss. Senior forwards Maureen Cloghessy and Nicole McAllister led the scoring with 10 and 9 points respectively.

The Great Neck South Tournament has more often than not been won by Mineola. South's athletic director even said officials were thinking of renaming the event the Mineola Invitational because the Mustangs usually come away with the hardware. But, it was getting even time for the other schools this year. The Lady Mustangs lost both games. In the opener, East Meadow handed Mineola a 57-47 setback. East Meadow scored 18 points at the free throw line. With the score tied at 23 at halftime, Mineola left its shooting touch in the locker room. East Meadow outscored the Mustangs 14-4 in the third quarter and was never threatened. Junior forward Kristin McNally led Mineola with 17 points while senior center Patty Ober was strong on the boards. In the consolation game, Great Neck North got 29 points from Shaina Pollack and beat Mineola 53-41. Maureen Cloghessy led the Mustangs with 8 points and Ober was again strong on the boards and earned an all tournament honor.

Mineola seemed to bounce back from those poor outings in Great Neck to win its next two games. The ladies defeated Bellmore JFK 44-38. A fourth quarter full court press turned a JFK 3-point lead into a Mineola 14-5 run and a victory. Junior guard Ally Murphy scored 6 points in the final two minutes to help the Mustangs keep the lead. Murphy finished with 12 points while Maureen Cloghessy added 10. Mineola had to mount a comeback in its next game to grab a 42-40 win at North Shore. The ladies were down 36-30 after three quarters, but again used aggressive pressure defense to turn the tide. Maureen Cloghessy scored 6 points in a fourth quarter that Mineola dominated, outscoring its opponent 12-4. Ally Murphy had 10 points while Cloghessy and Kristin McNally scored 8 apiece.

The two game winning streak was snapped in the next game. Bethpage used a 16-5 second quarter run to take a secure halftime lead that Mineola could not dent in the second half. The final result was a 49-36 Bethpage victory. Maureen Cloghessy led Mineola with 9 points.

The Mineola boys bowling teams have made a dramatic improvement from last season. First year coach Helms Bohringer's varsity squad was in fourth place at the holiday break. The junior varsity squad is in third place. Coach Bohringer says this season's squads are much more competitive, and since only four bowlers are allowed to compete in the matches, Mustang practices are quite competitive. The coach says he has eight to nine boys who can bowl varsity level and they have to compete with each other in practice to determine who gets to bowl in the matches. Coach Bohringer says the highlight of the early season has to be Vito Errico, who was three strikes away from a perfect 300 game, and finished with a 266. Vito had one other 200 game when the team hit the holiday break. Meanwhile, senior Tom Aupied had bowled five 200 games with a high of 215. Senior Bryan Gallucci and eighth-grader Anthony Tretolo also had rolled five 200 games each. Tretolo's high game was a 226 while Gallucci's was 225. As the bowling team went into the holidays, Tretolo had the high series to that point with a 659. At this point, the varsity boasts four bowlers with an average of 180 or better. Errico is 180; Aupied 181; Gallucci 184 and Tretolo 187. Meanwhile, Jeff Tavares and Brian Saks have also contributed some strong outings.

Coach Bohringer reports that his junior varsity squad's high game belongs to Mike Antoniou with a 230 while Peter Marson had the high series at 552. The junior varsity averages so far include Chris Williams with a 127, Danny Shain at 146, Peter Marson at 151, Joe Tiseo at 152, Mike Antoniou at 154 and Luis Tramantano at 157.