Antipas, Barger, Scriven lead Ward Melville to ninth straight county title

There were no dramatics and very little suspense in what seems to have become the annual coronation of the Patriots. The score sheet taped to the back wall of the Whitman gymnasium bore the same news as its eight predecessors: The Ward Melville girls fencing team reigns.

The Patriots, winners of a Long Island-record 128 straight league meets, earned their ninth consecutive Suffolk championship Saturday. They tallied 51 wins and had three fencers - Alexa Antipas, Laura Barger and Colleen Scriven - go 7-0. Huntington and Centereach tied for second with 33 points.

Each season is its own, coach Jennie Salmon would say. And for the four girls who competed in the counties for the first time, this ending, of course, is more meaningful than the previous.

"It's one thing to be on the team that wins," said Kristen Fischbach, a junior foil who went 6-1 after waiting her turn to crack the Patriots' county rotation, "but there's something extra when you're in it."

Ward Melville has been so dominant that Demi Antipas' one loss in a foil bout was significant - it was the sophomore's first defeat. Antipas, 54-0 in her career, fell to Commack star Alexandra Ehrenman, 5-4.

Teammates consoled her but younger sister Alexa stood back.

"I know better than to talk to her when she's mad," joked Alexa, a 23-0 freshman sabre. "She'll refocus and dominate."

SEE PHOTOSHigh school sports -- February

Sis the soothsayer. Demi finished 6-1 and won the foil circuit of the individual tournament.

"It gets tough because you know one bad day can ruin it all," Demi said of hers and the team's streak. "But all that pressure is what drives us."

Ward Melville boys win. The divide between Ward Melville and its top competitor has narrowed. For the last two years, Commack kicked at a deadbolted door, but this year, the Patriots had to put their backs against it to hold them off.

Coach Jeff Salmon held a meeting with his charges before they entered the second to last round - trailing the Cougars by two points.

"We knew at that point, we had to crush whoever we fenced," said senior foil Chris Sullivan, who went 6-1. "After that, hope for the best."

The best was a 9-0 win over Newfield that provided a cushion entering the finale against Commack. In the end, the Patriots (14-0) prevailed, 51-42, completing their third straight perfect season. Newfield took third (32) and Centereach fourth (30).

Peter Freiss went 7-0 in sabre and John Petrie IV went 7-0 in foil for the Patriots.

"They challenge us every chance they get," Salmon said of Commack. "It's good to see Long Island improving and rivalries are good."

As for the three-peat: "Feels just like the others. Feels like we did our job."