SWR girls basketball team loses nail-biter in L.I. championship
The Shoreham-Wading River girls basketball team came within two points of school history Wednesday, March 11. But Plainedge rallied late to edge the Wildcats, 51-49, in the Long Island Class A championship at Stony Brook University.
Under first-year coach Christian Coster, SWR entered the game riding a 17-3 regular season and a dominant run through the Suffolk County Class A playoffs, defeating beating Bayport-Blue Point, Kings Park, and eventually Mt. Sinai for their second Suffolk County crown ever.
Early on, it looked like SWR might make that history.
Facing Plainedge, the Nassau County representative, the Wildcats built a lead as large as 11 points in the second quarter and held the advantage for most of the game.
Momentum shifted when Plainedge tightened its defense in the fourth quarter. Michela Netto’s three-pointers helped spark the comeback,and SWR could not find an answer when it needed one most.
“They ramped up their half-court pressure in the second half,” Coster said. “They started pushing us off our spots where we wanted to start from. We weren’t as organized as we wanted to be in the second half. But credit to Plainedge, they hit a bunch of big shots. They got fouled and made their foul shots. Unfortunately, they made the winning plays, and this is the first game we did not all season.”
Shoreham-Wading River led 28-19 at halftime behind the suffocating defense that had carried the team all season. Their suffocating defense was giving Plainedge fits, forcing bad shot after bad shot. The Wildcats relied on their defense all season, allowing the second-lowest point total in Suffolk County. That defensive prowess showed throughout the game.
The Wildcats finished with 14 steals. Seniors Leslie Jablonski and Anabel Keegan lead the way with five and four steals, respectively. They also combined for four blocked shots as Plainedge committed 24 turnovers.
“We relied on our defense all season long,” Coster said. “That’s how we got to this point. I’m so proud of our seniors leading the way in that effort. They really set the precedent from day one.”
Keegan, who produced double-double after double-double down the stretch, did it again on Wednesday, leading her team in points with 16 and corralling 10 rebounds.
“This group is amazing,” Coster said. “Every single one of them. But I’m going to especially miss my seniors: Anabel, Leslie, Kady [Keegan], Alexa [Guinther], and Gabi [Ray]. They gave their heart and soul to the program, and I really appreciate it. I wish we could’ve won an LIC for them, but today wasn’t our day.”
The loss didn’t diminish what the Wildcats accomplished this season. They won their second Suffolk County championship in school history. And though another batch of seniors leaves, new stars are ready to take the court and try to bring the Wildcats back to this stage.
“The future years are going to be bright,” Coster said. “This playoff experience gives insight to those younger girls of what it takes to make it here and find success. We have a lot of girls returning that played minutes for us this year, and I’m super excited about what the future holds. But these seniors deserved an LIC. I just wish we could have given them one.”
