Saturday, March 22, 2025
Last Saturday afternoon gave a preview of March Madness when Seaford went toe-to-toe against North Shore in an integral Nassau Conference A2 girls’ basketball matchup.
In the waning seconds of the game, senior Jessica Grzelaczyk was in the corner, but was suffocated in a trap. Not a problem, as she kicked out to a corner three to her classmate CJ Block on the wing. Fake pump, drive in to find an open lane, and a floater up and in yielded a swish through the net. Comeback complete, 50-48.
“It was just a really hard-fought battle,” Seaford head coach Stephanie Bartkus said. “Just really happy that the girls finally got to feel what it’s like to beat them because we’ve struggled to do it in the past.”
Now, she and her team are still processing the win and how it happened, compounded by the fact that they’ve been on the short end of this particular stick a handful of times, and taste this specific flavor of success for the first time after knowing the alternative so well.
“I kept saying (after the game) it doesn’t feel real,” she said. “We’d been in this situation so many times and we’d know what it feels like, four times in a row including last season, to get that close. All the games have been this close and we’ve never been the one to come out with the win, so it’s a hard feeling to explain but it’s full joy and pride.”
Block had 14 points and senior center Skyler Secondino added 13.
Bartkus shared how she wanted to stress defense for this matchup, and with her own players agreeing with the vision, most vividly described when one of her captains opted to shorten her minutes to give room for another player in order for the squad to have a better shot at winning.
“One of my captains said ‘I’ll sit, put in Ashley Tuohy, she’s just an outstanding on-ball defender,’” Bartkus said.
It was part of a team-effort to get the win, with starters and bench players alike getting minutes, scoring and assisting opportunities. Bartkus said Block put up clutch buckets as well as consistently face-guarded the opponent’s top shooters whenever she had her back to the basket.
Sophomore Emily McGowan, the Vikings’ point guard, also got accolades from her coach. She had 7 points.
“She gets guarded so tight against every team that we play because of how skilled she is, and she has really taken on the role of running the floor for us,” Bartkus said. “She’s accepted the fact that she might not be a high scorer every game, but she does everything for the team. She can just handle the ball so well, see the floor, control the game.”
Seaford (10-6) not only avenged a loss to North Shore in the first meeting but pulled even atop A2 with a 7-1 mark.
Conference play continues this Saturday when Friends Academy pays a house visit at noon.
