Pearl River Defense Overwhelms Nyack (VIDEO)

The offense may not always be there for the Pearl River girls basketball team, but the Pirates always expect to defend.

Pearl River shut out Nyack in the second quarter and allowed only six points in the final three periods on the way to a 50-14 victory at Nyack Friday.

The Pirates improved to 11-1 with their first game in a week.

"We didn’t play particularly well," Pearl River Head Coach Lorraine Moylan said. "I don’t know. Exams. Breaks. Whatever. We just didn’t play well.

"We had midterms all this week," Pearl River senior Kerry Sullivan said. "Everyone was tired, I guess. We picked it up when we needed to.

"We always have to play hard defense. We are known for pressing and playing hard al the time. When our shots aren’t falling, we always go back to our defense."

The Pirates led, 22-6, at halftime. Sullivan scored 11 points Friday, including her team's first two baskets after the break. Senior Christa Scognamiglio led all scorers with 14 points, leaving her 17 points shy of Denise McGuire's Pearl River career scoring record of 1,476 points heading into Saturday's 2 p.m. home game against Burke Catholic.

"We knew Christa is going to get it," Sullivan said. "She’s an awesome player. She deserves it, so it’s going to be a lot of fun seeing her get that."