HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PREVIEW, SUFFOLK GIRLS, North Babylon trio tough to beat:
ERIK BOLAND. STAFF WRITER. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 18 Dec 2005
Class AA: The prevailing thought this season is there’s North Babylon, with Chanel Chisholm, Christine Huber and Gabby Green all back, and everyone else. Maybe, but Northport has won two straight titles and, once again, is at least nine-deep. Longwood looks strong and, with La’tashia Lee and Danielle Jenkins at guard, has one of the stronger guard combinations in the county. Copiague has beaten Longwood in non-league, and few are talking about Whitman, which returned four starters. Floyd also may pull off a surprise or two.
Leaders of the pack
North Babylon and Northport seem a foregone conclusion to meet in this season’s Suffolk Class AA girls basketball title game but, to steal from a certain ESPN college football commentator, not so fast.
Sure, there seems to be one dominant team – North Babylon – followed by one very good team – Northport – then a string of teams not quite ready to go on the three- or four-game streak required to win a county championship.
Still, there are a slew of interesting teams that don’t have all the pieces but will be dangerous come tournament time.
Among them are Longwood, with the stellar guard combination of La’tashia Lee and Danielle Jenkins, Copiague, with Ieasia Walker and Gabrielle Gibson, and Whitman, led by post players Diane Palka and Erika Forland.
| Longwood 1611175-49 |
| Southampton 27710-26 |
L: Jenkins 1-02, Ducz 1-3-5, Lee 8-4-20, Garrahan 1-0-2, Weeks 0- 1-1, Castiglie 3-0-6, Coleman 1-0-2, Parisi 1-1-3, Johnson 0-2-2, Robinson 2-2-6. Totals: 18-13-49. S: Claude 0-1-1, Czelatka 1-1-4, Dyson 4-0-8, Lamison 3-0-7, Mack 1-0-2, Page 2-0-4. Totals: 11-2- 26. Three-pointers: S: 2 (Czelatka, Lamison). Dec. 10
| Longwood 1514816-53 |
| Westhampton 771410-38 |
L: Jenkins 5-2-12, Lee 7-2-22, Garrahan 1-5-7, Castiglie 2-0-6, Robinson 2-2-6. Totals: 17-11-53. W: Cavallo 5-0-10, Duca 1-0-2, Kissane 1-0-2, Lettieri 0-2-2, Polan 4-2-11, Stilley 5-1-11. Totals: 16-5-38. Three-pointers: L 8 (Lee 6, Castiglie 2); W 1 (Polan). Dec. 11
Longwood 46, East Islip 39: La’Tasia Lee had 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals for Longwood. L: Lee 8-1-20, Garrahan 4-2-10, Castiglie 1-1-4, Touissaint 0-1- 1, Robinson 5-1-11. Totals: 18-6-46. EI: McKelvey 2-0-4, Primm 6-1- 15, Ursprung 2-0-4, Hallahan 3-3-9, White 1-0-2, Olen 2-0-4. Totals: 16-4-39. Three-pointers: L 4 (Lee 3, Castiglie) EI 3 (Primm 2, McKelvey). Dec. 14
| Huntington 3111119-44 |
| Longwood 278157-57 |
H: Hicks 0-5-5, Steele 2-2-6, Turner 1-1-3, Forster 2-3-7, Scully 4-0-9, Abt 5-1-11, Marascia 1-1-3. Totals: 15-13-44. L: Jenkins 7-3- 17, Ducz 1-5-7, Lee 5-2-14, Garrahan 3-1-7, Weeks 3-0-6, Castiglie 1- 0-2, Robinson 1-2-4. Totals: 21-13-57. Three-pointers: H 1 (Scully) L 2 (Lee). Dec. 18
| Floyd 114810-33 |
| Longwood 14121910-55 |
Samantha Ducz (15 points) and La’Tasia Lee totaled 27 points for Longwood. Lindsay Garrahan had 10 points and 15 rebounds. F: Johnson 4-2-11, Jackolski 3-1-7, Robertson 5-3-13, Bailey 1-0- 2. Totals 13-6-33. L: Jenkins 3-0-6, Ducz 4-7-15, Lee 5-2-12, Garrahan 5-0-10, Robinson 2-2-6, Castiglie 1-0-2, Coleman 1-0-2, Touissaint 1-0-2. Totals 22-11-55. Three-pointers F 1 (Johnson). Dec. 22
| Longwood 618916 – 49 |
| Brentwood 181364 – 41 |
Courtney Robinson scored on a putback midway through the fourth quarter to give Longwood its first lead of the game at 41-39. La’tasia Lee had 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals. L: Jenkins 3-1-7, Ducz 2-2-6, Lee 6-4-17, Garrahan 1-6-8, Robinson 3-1-7, Castiglie 0-2-2, Toussiant 1-0-2. Totals: 16-16-49. B: Uzamere 2-2-6, Jiminez 1-1-3, Antunes 3-4-10, Koerner 7-0-16, Debnam 0-3-3, Stevens 1-0-3. Totals: 14-10-41. Three-pointers: L 1 (Lee); B 3 (Koerner 2, Stevens). Jan. 4
| Longwood 1224207 – 63 |
| Lindenhurst 106910 – 35 |
Kristin Weeks had 17 points and 15 rebounds for Longwood in Suffolk League I. Lo: Jenkins 7-2-17, Ducz 0-1-1, Lee 4-2-10, Garrahan 2-2-6, Weeks 7-3-17, Robinson 3-1-7, Castiglie 2-0-5. Totals: 25-11-63. Li: Price 1-1-3, Brown 3-0-7, Rosario 1-0-2, Cullinane 1-0-2, Fowler 6-3-20, Vestuto 0-1-1. Totals: 12-5-35. Three-pointers: Lo 2 (Jenkins, Castiglie); Li: 6 (Fowler 5, Brown). Jan. 8
| Longwood 18181415-65 |
| Sachem East 15132112-61 |
L: Jenkins 3-2-8, Ducz 1-4-6, Lee 6-4-17, Garrahan 4-1-9, Robinson 9-5-23, Castiglie 0-2-2. Totals: 23-18-65. SE: Petrone 1-0- 2, Pribetich 1-2-5, L. Caggiano 9-1-21, Doherty 5-1-12, Mignone 3-0- 6, A. Caggiano 6-2-15. Totals: 25-6-61. Three-pointers: L 1(Lee(; SE 5(Pribetich, L. Caggiano 2, Doherty, A. Caggiano). Jan. 14
| Ward Melville 87119-35 |
| Longwood 17161114-58 |
La’tasia Lee had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals for Longwood (5-0). Danielle Jenkins had 12 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Ward Melville is 1-4. WM: J. Wang 1-0-3, C. Wang 2-1-5, Ka. Sells 3-1-9, Gerald 0-1-1, Williams 3-5-11, Kr. Sells 2-0-4, Aller 1-0-2. Totals: 12-8-35. L: Jenkins 4-3-12, Ducz 0-1-1, Lee 12-1-26, Garrahan 1-0-2, Robinson 1- 0-2, Castiglie 1-1-4, Coleman 1-1-3, Parisi 1-0-2, Touissaint 3-0- 6. Totals: 24-7-58. Three-pointers: WM 3 (Ka. Sells 2, J. Wang); L 3 (Jenkins, Lee, Castiglie). Jan. 18
| Longwood 981213-42 |
| Patchogue-Medford 851412-39 |
La’tashia Lee’s three with 3:30 left gave Longwood (6-0) the lead for good at 37-35. Danielle Jenkins had 14 points. Kristen Weeks had 10 points and 10 rebounds. PM is 3-3. L: Jenkins 6-2-14, Ducz 1-0-2, Lee 3-0-7, Garrahan 1-0-2, Weeks 5- 0-10, Robinson 2-0-4, Castiglie 1-0-3. Totals: 19-2-42. PM: Lustig 2- 0-4, Carney 3-2-9, Esposito 2-1-5, McMahon 6-3-15, Novonty 3-0-6. Totals: 16-6-39. Three-pointers: L 2 (Lee, Castiglie); PM 1 (Carney). Jan. 21
| Longwood 911148- 42 |
| Floyd 8131018- 49 |
L: Castiglie 1-0-2, Jenkins 4-4-13, Ducz 1-1-3, Lee 5-0-10, Robinson 2-0-4, Weeks 0-2-2, Garrahan 3-2-8. Totals: 16-9-42. F: Johnson 5-2-12, Jackolski 7-0-14, Capella 2-0-4, Robertson 5-8-19. Totals: 19-10-49. Three-pointers: L 1 (Jenkins); F 1 (Robertson). Jan. 27
| Longwood 1616911-52 |
| Lindenhurst 107136-36 |
Lo: Jenkins 4-10-18, Lee 5-5-16, Garrahan 4-0-8, Weeks 2-0-4, Castiglie 2-0-4, Touissaint 0-2-2. Totals: 17-17-52. Li: Price 6-0- 12, Mehm 2-0-4, Brown 3-1-8, Rosario 2-0-4, Cullinane 1-0-2, Fowler 2-0-6. Totals: 16-1-36. Three-pointers: Lo 1 (Lee); Li (Fowler 2, Brown). Feb. 1
EYE ON THE ISLAND: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 07 Feb 2006:
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Sachem East at Longwood, 6:30 p.m.: First-place battle in Suffolk League I between a veteran Longwood squad and Sachem East, a young team that has steadily improved since the season began. Longwood has been led by guards Danielle Jenkins and La’tashia Lee but Courtney Robinson, with 23 points, was the most responsible for Longwood‘s 65- 61 victory over Sachem East on Jan. 13. Lauren Caggiano had 21 points for Sachem East in that loss.
| Sachem East 8191412-53 |
| Longwood 20101114-55 |
La’tasia Lee scored 20 points, including two free throws with 50 seconds left to make it 53-51 for Longwood (8-2). Kristen Doherty’s 20 points led East (8-3). SE: N. Caggiano 2-0-4, Vetrone 1-4-6, Pribetich 4-0-11, L. Caggiano 2-0-4, Doherty 8-3-20, Mignone 1-2-4, A. Caggiano 2-0-4. Totals: 20-9-53. L: Jenkins 5-3-14, Ducz 2-0-4, Lee 7-4-20, Garrahan 2-2-6, Weeks 1-2-4, Robinson 3-1-7. Totals: 20-12-55. Three- pointers: SE 4 (Pribetich 3, Doherty); L 3 (Lee 2, Jenkins). Feb. 8
| Longwood 1423114-52 |
| Ward Melville 2778-24 |
L: Jenkins 1-0-2, Ducz 1-0-2, Lee 12-1-27, Garrahan 2-0-4, Weeks 3-0-6, Robinson 3-1-7, Castiglie 2-0-4. Totals: 24-2-52. WM: J. Wang 1-0-2, C. Wang 1-0-2, Ka. Sells 3-0-7, Denby 3-0-6, Williams 1-0-2, Hart 1-1-3, Aller 1-0-2. Totals: 11-1-24. Three-pointers: L (Lee 2); WM 1 (Ka. Sells). Feb.11
| Patchogue-Medford 571016-38 |
| Longwood 1091220-51 |
La’tasia Lee had 18 points and nine rebounds as Longwood (10-2) clinched the League I title. Pat- Med is 7-5. PM: Tuzza 4-0-8, Carney 3-0-6, Hamm 1-0-2, Esposito 1-2-4, McMahon 3-6-12, Novonty 0-2-2, Rufrano 1-2-4. Totals: 13-12-38. L: Jenkins 4-7-15, Ducz 2-0-4, Lee 9-0-18, Garrahan 2-0-4, Weekes 2-1- 5, Robinson 2-1-5. Totals: 21-9-51. Feb. 15
NASSAU AND SUFFOLK GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS, Retooled Glenn top seed: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 17 Feb 2006:
No. 1 North Babylon (16-3), led by Chanel Chisholm, Christine Huber and Gabby Green, is the most formidable Class AA team but has potential challenges in No. 2 Northport (16-3), last year’s champion, No. 3 Commack (15-3) and No. 4 Longwood (16-3). Dark horses? Look at No. 5 Smithtown West (15-4), No. 7 Hills West (16- 3), or No. 9 Whitman (11-8).
| Half Hollow Hills East (13) 76720- 40 |
| Longwood (4) 16171612- 61 |
HHHE: D’Amato 1-0-3, Leifsson 4-0-10, Gross 4-0-9, Fackler 1-0- 2, Sanator 6-0-14, Schneck 1-0-2. Totals: 17-0-40. L: Jenkins 2-4- 9, Ducz 1-0-2, Lee 9-0-21, Garrahan 0-4-4, Weeks 1-0-2, Robinson 7- 4-19, Castiglie 1-0-2, Touissaint 1-0-2. Totals: 22-12-61. Three- pointers: HHHE 6 (Leifsson 2, Sanator 2, Gross, D’Amato); L 5 (Lee 3, Jenkins, Robinson). Feb. 21
EYE ON THE ISLAND: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
Boland, Erik. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 23 Feb 2006
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Call it the battle for respect by two teams that feel disrespected when No. 5 Smithtown West travels to No. 4 Longwood tonight at 6 in a Suffolk Class AA girls basketball quarterfinal. Longwood (17-3), the League I winner, has felt ignored this season as much of the talk, when it came to Class AA superiority, focused on North Babylon, Northport and Commack. Smithtown West (16-4), after blitzing through League III undefeated, believes it should have been seeded higher. Of course, League III was Suffolk’s weakest Class AA conference – League II was the strongest – but Smithtown West’s counter-argument was that it beat Commack to open the season. Longwood steadied itself after a Jan. 26 loss to Floyd and has won five straight. Smithtown West has won 13 straight since a Dec. 23 loss to Harborfields. Most fans know about Longwood’s guard combination of Danielle Jenkins and La’tashia Lee and Smithtown West’s inside-outside tandem of Lindsay Salt and Victoria Ewing. Respect? Fortunately these things, in the end, are settled on the court.
LONGWOOD 53, SMITHTOWN WEST 48, Lee’s long pass seals the deal: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
ERIK BOLAND. STAFF WRITER. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 24 Feb 2006
The ball could have just as easily slipped out of La’tasia Lee‘s right hand or sailed out of the reach of her teammate.
“Yeah, that was a gamble there,” Lee said.
One that paid off.
With 29 seconds left and Longwood protecting a one-point lead, Lee, after a timeout, fired a touchdown pass from under the basket to a streaking Courtney Robinson. Robinson never broke stride and scored easily in what was the biggest play of No.4 Longwood’s 53-48 victory last night over No.5 Smithtown West in a Suffolk Class AA girls basketball quarterfinal. Longwood (18-3) plays No. 1 North Babylon Monday night at 8 at Eastport-South Manor in a semifinal.
“[Coming out of the timeout] I saw Courtney looking at me and she pointed,” Lee said. “I just gave it everything I had and I chucked it.”
Robinson’s basket gave Longwood a 49-46 lead with 23 seconds left. After West (16-5) didn’t convert, Danielle Jenkins was fouled and hit two free throws to make it 51-46 with 14 seconds left.
Lindsay Salt, who led West with 17 points, scored inside with five seconds left but Jenkins, who had 13 points, was fouled and hit two more free throws to provide the final margin.
“I can’t remember the last time she threw one away,” Longwood coach Mark Gordon said of Lee‘s risky pass. “That’s one of our press breakers that we work on. We drop Courtney back because she’s usually quicker than anyone the other team has.”
Longwood had the quickness advantage last night but came out cold and trailed 8-4 after the first quarter. Lee, who averages more than 20 points, went to the bench with two fouls with 3:37 left in the first quarter and did not play the rest of the half. Longwood led 19- 18 at the break.
“Luckily, my teammates picked me up,” said Lee, who had eight points.
One was forward Lindsay Garrahan. The senior, hitting mostly perimeter shots, had 12 points, eight in the second half. Her 15- footer from theright wing with 4:40 left gave Longwood a 41-34 lead.
West rallied with an 8-0 run and took a 42-41 lead when Victoria Ewing, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds, scored inside with 2:37 left. Robinson gave Longwood the lead back with a jumper but Nicole Redding hit inside to give West a 44-43 lead with 1:29 left. Jenkins put Longwood ahead to stay, hitting two foul shots with 1:19 left to make it 45-44. Samantha Ducz hit from the wing one possession later to make it 47-44.
“They’re relentless,” West coach Dan McCabe said. “Even when we had them down [13-4 early in the second] they keep coming. They find that fourth and fifth gear when they need it.”
Monday
Suffolk Class AA semifinal
Longwood vs. North Babylon
8 p.m. at Eastport-South Manor
SUFFOLK CLASS AA GIRLS SEMIFINAL: LONGWOOD 62, NORTH BABYLON 53, Lee’s 27 points help spring upset:
ERIK BOLAND. STAFF WRITER. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 28 Feb 2006
La’tasia Lee’s last performance simply wasn’t acceptable.
Lee, averaging 20-plus points during the regular season, scored just eight points in Longwood’s quarterfinal victory over Smithtown West last Tuesday and the 5-9 guard who is headed for Canisius next season wasn’t thrilled.
“I knew I had more than that,” Lee said.
Did she ever.
Scoring a game-best 27 points, including 13 in an almost indescribable fourth quarter, Lee led No. 4 Longwood to a 62-53 upset victory over No. 1 North Babylon last night in a Suffolk Class AA girls basketball semifinal in front of a noisy crowd of about 1,000 at Eastport-South Manor. Longwood (19-3) plays Northport for the county title Friday at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph’s.
“Words can’t even describe what I’m feeling right now,” said Lee, who took a pass from Lindsay Garrahan and swished a three-pointer from the left corner with 1:01 left to give Longwood a 55-53 lead.
“Everyone all season was talking about North Babylon and them going to states and even winning Federations. No one gave us a chance but we knew we could do it.”
The reason no one gave Longwood a chance was North Babylon’s dominance during the regular season. North Babylon (18-4) lost three non-league games to New York City powers but won all of its games on Long Island by an average of 25 points.
But Longwood hung around last night, trailing 17-12 after the first quarter and 31-28 at the half. North Babylon appeared as if it would pull away thereafter, as junior guard Chanel Chisholm scored seven of her 18 points in the third quarter, helping the Bulldogs to a 47-40 lead. When Gabrielle Green, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds, scored with 7:01 left, North Babylon led 49-40. But Longwood closed the gap on a 22-4 run, highlighted by Lee’s three three-pointers and the team’s 8-for-9 effort in that stretch from the free-throw line.
“With this group I have, La’tasia and Danielle [Jenkins], when they’re on, there’s not too many teams with guards like that,” Longwood coach Mark Gordon said.
Jenkins had 14 points, 10 in the second half. Her driving layup with 2:05 left pulled Longwood to 53-52, setting up Lee’s go-ahead basket moments later.
“I’m speechless,” Lee said. “We were such big underdogs.”
SUFFOLK CLASS AA FINAL: NORTHPORT 63, LONGWOOD 46, Schiavetta leads way to 3-peat: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]
Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 04 Mar 2006:
It has been repeated to the point of reaching sports cliche status.
“We wanted to get off to a fast start.” Trite, not to mention obvious, but sometimes it just fits. It did Friday night as No.2 Northport overwhelmed No.4 Longwoodearly and cruised to a 63-46 victory in the Suffolk Class AA girls basketball championship game in front of a sellout crowd of about 1,200 at St. Joseph’s (L.I.).
Northport (20-3), which won its third straight Suffolk AA title, plays Suffolk Class C winner Wyandanch at 1 p.m. Sunday at Stony Brook University in the overall Suffolk championship game. Northport plays either Massapequa or Elmont – which play at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Hofstra – in the Long Island Class AA championship game Friday at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph’s (L.I.).
“In the playoffs, you know every game could be your last,” said Northport junior guard Kiera Schiavetta, who had 16 points, six rebounds and four steals. “If you get a big lead, it makes it easier in the second half.”
Schiavetta scored five points in Northport’s 17-8 first quarter, then seven more in the second as the Tigers grabbed a 37-17 halftime lead. After trailing 8-6 with 2:41 left in the first quarter, Northport scored the next 14 points, taking a 20-8 lead when Kelly Dunne, who had 10 points and three steals, swished a three-pointer from the right corner with 6:59 left in the first half.
Then, of course, there was senior do-it-all guard Corrine Gandolfi, who took over last season’s county final victory over North Babylon. Friday night, Gandolfi led all scorers with 23 points and added nine rebounds and seven of her team’s 15 steals.
“We played tough the whole game,” Gandolfi said. “We’re usually a second-half team, but we played awesome the whole game.”
Gandolfi opened the second half with a steal and basket to give Northport a 39-17 lead. Longwood (19-4) chipped away and was still in it after three quarters, trailing 48-31. When Longwood senior guard La’tasia Lee, who scored her 1,000th career point with a three- pointer as time expired and finished the game with 18 points, hit from the baseline, Longwood pulled to 48-35 with 6:14 left. But Schiavetta answered on the ensuing Northport possession with a baseline drive and floater, putting the Tigers ahead 50-35 with 5:45 left.
Northport held off Longwood the rest of the way, primarily by hitting its free throws. Northport was 12-for-14 from the line in the fourth quarter and 24-for-29 overall. Northport held the edge in just about every statistical category, the most glaring being rebounding, where the Tigers had a 47-32 advantage.
“Foul shooting was a key and then you have a girl like Whitney Ahern who didn’t score but was huge on the boards,” Northport coach Rich Castellano said of the 5-9 forward who had a team-best 11 rebounds. “Then it was the usual cast of characters who did everything you could ask.” All of which added up to a 10th county title for Northport.
“It feels so great to three-peat,” Gandolfi said.
“It’s amazing,” Schiavetta said. “Every year, it’s the same feeling and you never want it to stop.”
Stop Northport? In a county final? Just doesn’t seem to happen.