Thursday, October 1, 2026
Last year’s championship run is paying dividends this season for Wanagh’s girls basketball team.
The Warriors entered a nine-day break for midterm exams at 12-2 overall and 5-1 in Conference A-1 with a perfect 6-0 mark on the road. Longtime head coach Stan Bujacich said the returners from the historic 23-3 season that captured the program’s first county title since 2006 and a Long Island championship before falling in the state finals are battle-tested to play in a variety of visiting environments.
“I think the experience last year really has helped us as whether it is a big crowd or small crowd, we've been through it all,” Bujacich said. “We've won a bunch of games on the road that came down to the last two or three minutes of the game.”
Bujacich said one of the road wins that particularly stood out this season was a 44-28 victory at Cold Spring Harbor on Dec. 5 in which the Warriors seized control of the game late against the reigning Class B state champions with a 16-4 fourth quarter run. Junior forward Kayla Mannix helped bring home the non-league win with 17 of her game-high 24 points coming in the second half to go along with eight rebounds, four blocks, four steals and three assists.
Mannix also fueled a hard-fought 49-45 non-league win at Manhasset on Jan. 3 with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Sophomore guard Isabelle Ferraro and sophomore Maykayla McNeil also tallied double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively, in a game where Wantagh faced early foul trouble.
“It was a very physical and very intense game for a non-conference game and I thought we handled ourselves well after getting in foul trouble,” Bujacich said. “Everybody stepped up and then by the mid-fourth quarter we pulled away.”
The Warriors have had balanced scoring throughout the season often producing multiple double-digit scorers led by Mannix, Ferraro and McNeil. Junior forward Ella Perfetti has also stepped up as key rebounder this season and pulled down six boards to go along with nine points in Wantagh's 55-45 home triumph against Plainedge on Jan. 12.
Senior point guard Sabrina Asadurian has proven instrumental in guiding the offense and as a lock-down defender while also bringing a presence to the floor as a four-year varsity player.
“She's been a rock for the last three years,” Bujacich said of Asadurian, who registered 11 points and seven assists in a 55-37 non-league win against Farmingdale on Dec. 23. “She is as tough as nails.”
Wantagh hits the home stretch of the regular season after the midterm break this Saturday for an 11:45 a.m. home tipoff against Valley Stream North before visiting Mineola Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. The Warriors then host Lynbrook Feb. 3 at 6:45 p.m. in a rematch of a 40-25 Warriors win on Jan. 4 where they outscored the Owls 17-3 in the fourth quarter.
