Girls Basketball: Fotopoulos gets her points and SWR falls

Shoreham-Wading River accomplished something Tuesday that not too many high school girls basketball teams can boast about over the past few years.

The Wildcats limited Hampton Bays and standout senior guard Alexis Fotopoulos to just one basket in the fourth quarter. That came with 52.5 seconds remaining in the Suffolk County League VI game.

The problem was Fotopoulos and her teammates did just about all of their damage by then as the Baymen recorded a 51-30 victory.

Fotopoulos, who entered the game ninth among county scoring leaders at 21.9 points per game, ripped the nets for 27 points. While she has played better games, Fotopoulos managed to find ways to get her points, whether it was putting home her own rebound, converting a turnover into a layup or sinking a long-distance trey.

The Wildcats (6-2, 3-1) dug themselves an early hole as it took three quarters to find their rhythm.

Liz Ottati converted a rebound 32 seconds into the game, igniting an 11-0 run that ended when Shoreham junior guard Sophie Triandafils put in a rebound of her own shot for the hosts’ first points with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wildcats’ task was made much more difficult when they lost their leading scorer, Mackenzie Zajac (10 points a game), to foul trouble. Zajac wound up sitting out a good chunk of the first half while finishing with 3 points.

After Shoreham pulled to within 11-5, Hampton Bays (9-1, 4-1) then rolled off an 11-2 streak to close out the first quarter with a 22-7 advantage. The Baymen extended it to 38-17 at the half.

Even though the game was out of reach in the final quarter, the Wildcats continued to press and outscored the visitors over the final eight minutes, 9-4, to make the score more respectable.

Lindsey McKenna led the Wildcats with 6 points.