McDonald leads Uniondale past Massapequa

Aliyah McDonald didn't care who was in her way, whether it was two, three, or four defenders. The Uniondale sophomore forced a steal and went coast to coast for a layup past several Massapequa players to tie the score with 1:15 left in the game.

After Massapequa took a one-point lead, McDonald sliced her way past several players again for another layup to give her team the lead for good with 49 seconds left as No. 6 Uniondale upset No. 3 Massapequa, 49-46, Wednesday night in a Nassau Class AA girls basketball quarterfinal at Massapequa.

McDonald scored eight of her 16 points in the final quarter and added four steals, Jayda Hyatt had 11 points and seven rebounds, Myajha Elson had nine points and nine rebounds and Sakara Hester-Torres added eight points for Uniondale (10-9), which rallied from a 10-point deficit with 6:30 left.

"I just wanted to go to the basket and hopefully make the layup or get fouled," McDonald said. "It didn't matter. I just wanted to get some points on the board so we can come back and win the game."

After McDonald tied the score at 45, Danielle Doherty went 1-for-2 from the foul line with 59 seconds left to give Massapequa (15-3) a 46-45 lead. McDonald answered with a layup for a 47-46 lead. Massapequa missed a shot with 22 seconds left and Hyatt was fouled while grabbing the rebound. She went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to extend the Knights' lead to 48-46. Massapequa missed two shots and Hester-Torres picked up a loose ball, was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the foul line with 1.6 seconds left for the final margin.

"Part of the game plan was getting to the basket," Uniondale coach Danielle Nichol said. "We knew we would be able to. Aliyah's a competitor. She stuck with it and took what was given to her."

Said Elston of McDonald: "That's what she normally does. We rely on her."

SEE PHOTOSUniondale 49, Massapequa 46

Uniondale outscored Massapequa 14-3 in the final 4:30.

"We had close to 30 turnovers," Massapequa coach Shari Roessler said. "We had the shots at the end and they didn't go in. They stepped up and we didn't protect the ball like we needed to."

Uniondale, which lost in the final last season, has shown flashes of being a good team. The Knights lost two games to Massapequa in the regular season, including one in overtime, and they are the only team to beat Farmingdale this season. Uniondale will play No. 2 Farmingdale in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Oyster Bay.

"We're young," Nichol said. "It's been a learning process. We had an up-and-down season, but I think it made us battle tested."