Lady Rocks outlast Locust Valley

Fresh off its sixth Nassau Class C girls’ basketball title in eight seasons, East Rockaway kept its momentum going by winning its only tune-up for Long Island championship game opponent Stony Brook.

The Lady Rocks edged Nassau Class B champ Locust Valley, 38-36, in overtime, for the county Small School Championship last Saturday at C.W. Post. Their 17th win in 19 games was the result of senior Alli Pacheco’s three-pointer with 7.5 seconds left in OT. She took a pass from senior Emily D’Archangelis (12 points, seven steals) and hit nothing but net.

“It felt good when I let it go,” Pacheco said. “Even though we were advancing beyond this game, we only had two losses all season and wanted to keep it that way.”

Pacheco had 11 points and senior Theresa Amabile added five points and five steals for East Rockaway, which takes a 12-game winning streak into the L.I. final on March 9 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue. Alexis Monserrate and Isabel Paliaccio had 12 points apiece for Locust Valley, which meets Center Moriches for the L.I. Class B crown at the same site at 5:30 p.m.

“It was an exciting win,” East Rockaway coach Karin Leary said. “We came in here as the underdog. We don’t play again for two weeks, but any time you beat a team from a higher conference it builds confidence.” 

East Rockaway, which beat Friends Academy by 17 points in the Nassau Class C title game on Feb. 13, led Locust Valley 32-28 with less than a minute remaining in regulation after a Pacheco free throw. But the Lady Falcons rallied to force overtime, getting a Monserrate basket with 42 seconds left and a pair of Taylor Coddington free throws with 3.4 to go.

The Lady Rocks, who led 15-4 after the opening quarter, by three at halftime and by seven heading into the fourth, trailed for the first time when Paliaccio opened overtime with a put-back in the lane, but Pacheco answered to tie it at 34. After Monserrate and Theresa Amabile traded free throws, Natasha Jachan’s only point of the day gave Locust Valley a 36-35 advantage with 31.3 seconds remaining.

But Pacheco had the final say.

“We’ve come out on both sides in this game,” said Leary, whose team lost the Small School Championship to Malverne two years ago. “I like playing it. It allowed us to work on some things in a game situation to get us ready for Stony Brook.”

On Feb. 13, the Lady Rocks got a season-high 13 points from senior Alyssa Marinazzo in their 49-32 victory over Friends Academy in the Nassau Class C final at C.W. Post. Pacheco added nine points, Amabile seven, and D’Archangelis and senior Leanna DeGiulio six.

Stony Brook, which is led by Sadie Singer, Brannon Burke and Emily Carmel, is 19-2 after losing the Suffolk Small School championship to Center Moriches.