SWR girls basketball clutch comeback keeps perfect season alive

Shoreham-Wading River’s new girls’ basketball coach, Christian Coster, couldn’t have scripted a better start for his coaching career. With the 49-47 win over Bayport-Blue Point on Friday, Jan. 9, at Shoreham-Wading River High School, the Wildcats have produced a spotless 10-0 record, including 6-0 in League VI play. 

Success is nothing new for the program. But with valuable players graduating every year, consistently churning out a winner is a testament to the quality of players that come out to the basketball program.

“For as long as I can remember, the most athletic girls in the school always played basketball in the winter,” said Coster, who graduated from Shoreham-Wading River himself. “It’s never their first sport, but to get every Division I athlete in the school to commit to the basketball program is exactly how we’ve found success in the past and continue to do so.”

For the last 20 years, Adam Lievre was the girls’ basketball program at SWR, but he decided to step down to spend more time with his sons. Lievre led the girls basketball team to its first Suffolk County championship in school history in 2023. You couldn’t rip Lievre too far out of the coaching ranks however as he decided to stay on as an assistant coach for the boys basketball team where his son, Tyler, plays. 

“Adam left a nice blueprint to success here,” Coster said. “I would be a fool not to follow it. I am trying to continue that winning tradition, and I’m committed to doing so.”

One thing hasn’t changed this year despite the coaching change: The Wildcats can play defense with the best of them. In the win over Bayport-Blue Point, SWR came away with 20 steals as a team. Seniors Leslie Jablonski and Katherine Keegan both had seven steals each as they found a way to impact the game from both sides of the floor. The quick, smooth-shooting guards had 16 and 12 points respectively over the course of the game.

“We’re going to continue to lean on our seniors this year,” Coster said. “They’ve been through it. They’ve played big games. We know they’re going to step up when the time comes.”

With just 21 seconds left in the game, the Wildcats trailed 47-46 and an SWR missed shot rolled off the rim. A defensive rebound could have made the deficit even worse if it landed in a Phantoms hand, but a Wildcat freshman made one of her best plays of the season. Laurel Coster, the coach’s daughter, rose up and brought down the offensive rebound, getting fouled as she attempted a shot from underneath the rim.

The pressure was on at the free throw line but Coster, who scored 10 points, converted the first to tie the game.

“To have a freshman step up in that moment shows that she belongs,” the coach said. “She’s done it in AAU her whole life. This was just another game.”

The second free throw however rimmed out only to find the grasp of senior Anabel Keegan who quickly put the ball back up and nailed the layup for the eventual game-winning basket.

“That’s a Division I lacrosse athlete making a play when we needed it,” Coster said. “It’s been like that all year long. When it gets tough, our athletes find a way. We as coaches just do our best to put them in a place that they can be successful.”