The No. 4 seed in the Nassau Class A girls’ basketball playoffs left no doubt who’s No. 1.
Junior-led Plainedge capped a sensational county tournament run Friday night with a resounding 48-28 victory over third-seeded Floral Park in the championship game at Farmingdale State College.
“It’s really amazing and unbelievable,” said junior point guard Allison Younghans, who led all scorers with 17 points. “We practiced hard all week and everyone played great,” she added. “I’m so proud of our team.”
It’s the second county title in five seasons and third all-time for the Red Devils (17-6), who’ll seek their first-ever Long Island crown when they face Shoreham-Wading River (20-2) Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Stony Brook University.
Freshman Maddie Belz scored 10 points off the bench, and juniors Peyton Wise and Michela Netto added 9 and 7 points, respectively, as Plainedge, fueled by defense, followed a 44-41 win over top-seeded defending Nassau and L.I. Class A champion Wantagh in the semifinals with a dominant performance.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Plainedge head coach Sarah Tansey said. “I’m so happy for these girls. They worked so hard to get here and wanted to win so bad. They weren’t nervous and played aggressive and focused.”
Wise (5) and Younghans combined for the game’s first nine points and the Red Devils were off and running. They blanked the Knights for the first 5:10 and allowed just one field goal in the opening quarter and three in the first half.
Junior Christina Vargas scored 11 points off the bench and sophomore Juliette Payoute added 8 for Floral Park, which finished 17-6.
Netto, who had 5 steals, scored all of her points in the second quarter to help Plainedge build a stunning 25-10 halftime lead against a conference rival it split 3-point regular-season matchups with.
“We played such an incredible first half, but we knew we had to keep pushing to the finish line,” Netto said. “At halftime we talked about just pretending it was a tie game and to keep doing what we’re doing. We were ready for them to come out strong in the second half.”
The Knights, however, were unable to get any closer than 15. Plainedge opened the second half much like it did the first. Younghans had a basket, two free throws and set up junior Giovanna Pannitti’s swished trey to increase the advantage to 32-10.
“I don’t have enough words to describe Allie,” Tansey said of Younghans. “That kid has a motor like I’ve never seen before. She’s a three-year starter who goes hard every second she’s on the court.”
The Red Devils took a 36-18 lead into a fourth quarter that saw Belz scored six points and junior Emma Throo provide the exclamation point with a late basket.
“It’s so exciting,” Wise said. “Every practice we had this week was geared towards what we had to accomplish tonight and it couldn’t have turned out any better.”
