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Player Spotlight
Trinity Junior Gains Through Pain
Jay Mumford
Holy Trinity shooting guard Meghan Orlando won’t be making a
cameo on Dancing With The Stars anytime soon.
“Meghan is just coming back off of a painful injury, she‘s all
padded up”, said Trinity Head Coach John Lipani after Orlando’s
14 point performance (all in the first half) in a loss to
Kellenberg. “Most doctors would‘ve kept her out, she’s one of
the toughest kids I’ve ever coached.” With teammate (and
Trinity’s leading scorer) Katie Poppe having been out with a
concussion over a month now and three point specialist Kelly
Carey just coming back off of an injury herself, Orlando has no
choice but to play through pain, be a leader and shoulder the
scoring load if the Lady Titans want to win.
“I bruised the bone coming out of my hip”, Orlando revealed. “It
hurts, but I play through it.” That example of toughness,
perseverance and allegiance to team is something that a coach
can’t encode into a player’s DNA, but the 5’6 shooting guard
also has some skill sets that make her one of the peninsula’s
players to watch in the Class of 2011.
“She can obviously shoot the three, but she can also get into
the paint to shoot the floater and finish around the hoop”,
Coach Lipani said. Despite being a step slow due to her ailment,
the Hicksville native was near flawless in the first half
against the Firebirds, flaunting her touch from close in,
mid-range and deep. “She’s not afraid to mix it up either, she
rebounds extremely well for her height”, Coach Lipani added.
But there’s always room to grow, and Orlando understands that.
“I’d like to improve on attacking the basket and pulling up
more”, she said. “I’m also looking to improve my defense.” Coach
Lipani echoes those thoughts.
“To get to that next level, she’ll have to be a little more
explosive with her first step”, he admitted. “Also,
understanding where the shooters are on defense. But she‘s
learning, and (the Kellenberg game) was only her fourth game
back this season.” The transfer from Hicksville HS had to sit
out the second half of the 2008-09 season and the first half of
this one, while getting acclimated with her role as a Titan at
the same time. "She wanted a change. She wasn't happy at
Hicksville and felt she would be happier at Holy Trinity." The
results haven't been to shabby as Orlando -who is averaging 11.7
PPG in her four games- has already landed on the radar of most
of the local Division II’s. “The Adelphis and the Dowlings know
who she is, but she’s played AAU locally up to this point.
She‘ll be with a Long Island Lightning team in the spring and
summer, so we‘re looking to get her seen a bit more.” Orlando
knows herself the importance of getting out on the circuit, and
she’s made steps in the right direction.
“I’ll be playing with my teammates Alison Brennan and Kristen
Korzevinski on Coach (Jon) Lawniczak’s Lightning team”. Until
then, Orlando will play through pain until pain is no more. The
Lady Titans have no choice.
“Yup, we’re pretty banged up”, said Coach Lipani with a laugh.
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