LI Lutheran girls right a wrong, win Fed

It was shaping up to be another disappointing and sullen bus ride back home for the Long Island Lutheran girls basketball team. The previous two years, the Crusaders lost in the state Federation Class B final and semifinals, including a 28-point loss to Irvington last season in the semifinals.

They were heading in that direction once again, trailing by 14 points entering the fourth quarter in the final against Irvington. The Crusaders missed their first 13 three-pointers, point guard Boogie Brozoski left the game with five minutes remaining after injuring her hip, and the team could do nothing right, while Irvington did what it wanted.

"I didn't have any doubt," junior Paige Kriftcher said. "We've overcome deficits before. They just weren't as big as this one."

Nor was it expected. Many in basketball circles said Irvington, the defending state and Federation champion, wasn't going to lose this season in Class B, but Lutheran pulled off a stunning comeback to win 59-57 and capture its first championship.

"We knew we had eight minutes left in our season," senior Sam Milhaven said. "We knew it wasn't over. Paige's shots started going in. The defense was incredible. The atmosphere was great and the energy was for us."

Lutheran (21-5) trailed by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before Kriftcher exploded with 11 of her 15 points.

"I was being too passive," Kriftcher said of the first three quarters. "I was just happy I changed modes and had more of an attack mentality. It really shows you can change the way you play at any time. I knew I had to step up in a big way."

The Crusaders couldn't let go of the way they played in the loss to Irvington last season. "Last year was awful," Milhaven said. "It was a humbling feeling. We completely got outplayed and we didn't play like ourselves. Irvington is a great team and we deserved to lose last year. We didn't want that feeling again. We learned it's never easy."

Said Kriftcher: "A few of us were on the team last year and we were devastated after that game. We knew we were good and to lose by 28 sold us short. It was a quiet bus ride back."

Kriftcher, who tore her ACL in April, made sure it was different this time, scoring on a three-point play with 1:44 left to give LuHi a 56-55 lead. She capped a 15-0 run with a spinning one-hander in the lane for a 58-55 lead with 55 seconds left. She also added nine rebounds, including some key putbacks in the final minutes.

Christina Raiti struggled early, but hit the first three-pointer for the Crusaders with 6:13 left to cut it to 51-41. She scored 15 points. Sarah Seger also was a key contributor with eight points and five rebounds.

"We were a different team," LuHi coach Rich Slater said. "We were longer and more athletic. We matched up with Irvington better this season. The games we lost by one point helped us. We felt we could win close games. They didn't play a lot of close games. They blew teams out."

The bus ride back was even more joyous since the team shared the bus with the boys team, who handed St. Mary's its first loss to win the Class A championship.

"Both teams weren't expected to win," Milhaven said. "For the next few months, I'll be on top of the world."