Girls Basketball: Wildcats make their playoff reservations

Shoreham-Wading River High School knows one thing is certain. Its girls basketball team clinched a spot in the Suffolk County Class A Tournament on Thursday.

The Wildcats cruised to a 52-11 home win over East Hampton in a League VI game.

Mackenzie Zajac paced the Wildcats with 12 points, followed by Lindsey McKenna’s 11 points and Cristina Iannacchino’s 9.

Shoreham (9-5, 6-3) took care of business early, rolling to a 16-2 first-quarter lead as six players found the scoresheet.

The Wildcats utilized a half-court trapped that forced East Hampton (0-14, 0-10) into 16 first-half turnovers and another 15 in the second half.

In fact, the trap was so effective that the hosts held the Bonackers scoreless for 13 minutes 6 seconds while Shoreham went on a 25-0 run that turned a 4-2 lead into a 29-4 halftime advantage.

The early lead allowed Shoreham coach Adam Lievre to substitute freely and give his reserves plenty of playing time.

Alex Rutowski led East Hampton with 4 points.

Shoreham has three games remaining in the regular season, visiting Hampton Bays on Tuesday, hosting Elwood/John Glenn on Feb. 5 and playing at Mount Sinai on Feb. 8.

Photo caption: Shoreham-Wading River’s Maria Smith finds herself in a tight squeeze between East Hampton’s Taliya Hayes, left, and Alex Rutowski. (Credit: Garret Meade)