PHOTO COURTESY OF KAREN SINGER
THIRD CONSECUTIVE COUNTY TITLE
FOR SBS GIRLS BASKETBALL
PHOTO COURTESY
OF KAREN SINGER
On February 15th, at Center Moriches Gymnasium, The Stony Brook School and Port Jefferson squared off in the Section XI, Class "C" Finals. Although many of the names and faces are different for Stony Brook this year, the result was the same as Stony Brook prevailed 37-23 to win its third straight Class C, Section XI Championship.
Coach Keith Singer commented that, "It was a great feeling. For a lot of our players, this was the first time competing in a championship game. We only have one starter back from last year's team (sophomore Sadie Singer), and I was very pleased with how the entire group responded."
Stony Brook and Port Jefferson split their two previous meetings this season with Stony Brook winning the first match-up 61-11 and Port Jefferson bouncing back with a 35-26 victory in the next meeting. "In both of the previous match-ups, one team or the other was missing players, or had injured players competing at less than one hundred percent. This game, however, brought out the best in both teams. It was an extremely hard fought contest, and we were finally able to create some separation late in the third quarter on a couple of key plays by Danielle (Spiliotis) and Sadie (Singer)."
Junior All-Conference selection Danielle Spiliotis (Port Jefferson) led all players with a game-high 20 points and added 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. She finished the game with 998 career points and is only one basket shy of the 1,000 point milestone for her career. Sadie Singer (Stony Brook), a starter for both the previous championship teams added 7 points, 7 assists, and committed only one turnover during the contest. Three baskets by Spiliotis late in the third quarter, along with an assist on a traditional 3-point play by junior Jenae Ward to start the fourth quarter helped Stony Brook forge a 26-14 lead. Despite an outstanding game by senior Megan Mackenzie, who scored 5 of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter, Port Jefferson never was able to cut the deficit to less than ten during the remainder of the game.
In athletics, it is often stated that defense wins championships. This game certainly fit that description. Stony Brook, second in Suffolk County in team defense, has only given up an average of 32.5 points per game during the season. "Our girls take great pride in their defense. Today, I thought the overall effort was exceptional. Ward and (senior Allegra) Istrati both did an amazing job slowing down some of Port Jefferson's major threats. We knew it would be a low scoring game, because Port Jefferson does an excellent job with their zone and is very tough to score on. But, when you can hold a team to 23 points, you are going to win a lot of games."
"Coach Singer maximizes the talent on his team and is constantly working to put his players in a role where they can be successful. A great coach, a talented group of athletes, and a special team chemistry have been the key elements behind Stony Brook's third consecutive Suffolk County Class C Championship," said Brad Baker, Athletic Director.
Stony Brook (16-3, Section XI) continues on to the Long Island Class C championship game and will meet East Rockaway (Section IX) on March 4th at 5:00 PM at St. Joseph's College for the state playoffs.
