A third consecutive season with at least 15 victories for Seaford girls basketball came to an end in Thursday night’s Nassau Class A semifinal at the hands of Floral Park.
The third-seeded Knights scored 10 of the first dozen points of the second half and never looked back on the way to a 45-36 victory at Farmingdale State College, advancing them to the county championship game against No. 4 Plainedge next Friday at 5:30 p.m. on the same court.
Senior Siena McCree had a game-high 14 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Juliette Payoute added 13 for Floral Park (17-5), which avenged a Dec. 8 non-league loss to the Vikings. Second-seeded Seaford (16-6), which led the rematch by a point after each of the first two quarters, got 10 points from freshman Samantha Richardson.
“We had a tremendous season with so many close games we won,” Seaford head coach Stephanie Bartkus said. “Tonight just didn’t go our way. In the second half, the ball just wasn’t going in. Layups killed us.”
Senior Amanda Owen scored 5 of her 7 of her points in the second half for Floral Park, which split a pair of regular-season 3-point nailbiters with Plainedge.
“The game plan tonight was to make Seaford beat us in a half-court game,” Floral Park head coach Michael Spina said. “They beat us pretty good early in the season, but we’re a different team now. We did a nice job defensively and also handling their pressure and getting everyone involved.”
Seaford, which hadn’t lost in more than a month, jumped to a 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer from sophomore Rylie Betz and junior Jolie Collichio’s floater in the lane. It led 10-9 after one.
Payoute scored the first five points of the second quarter and a McCree bucket put the Knights ahead 16-10 before the Vikings re-rallied to lead 20-19 at halftime. Bartkus’ squad closed the half with baskets by junior Emily McGowan, Richardson and Collichio.
It was all Floral Park in the third quarter. Drives to the rim resulted in plenty of trips to the foul line, where Payoute, McCree and freshman Meagan Ryan all cashed in and suddenly the margin was double digits at 36-26.
“We said if we had a strong shooting night and rebounded well, we’d have a good chance,” Spina said. “We got hot there in the third quarter.”
Seaford battled back to within 38-36 with 3:33 remaining in regulation thanks in large part to Richardson going 4-for-4 from the line and senior Kaylie Conklin 2-for-2. But that’s where the offense stalled.
“This group of girls is the light of my life,” said Bartkus, who’s guided the Vikings to 49 wins over the past three seasons. “Most of them will be back next season and we’re hoping the third time will be a charm getting past the semis.”
