Sachem East edges North Babylon

Meagan Doherty knew she'd knock down that free throw. Except she didn't. And this game, early on, had every look of a blowout. Except it wasn't.

No, this one came down to a "hold your breath'' jumper at the buzzer that, off the release, looked good. Except it wasn't.

It was only then that defending champion Sachem East, which saw a would-be easy win turn into a nail-biter, finally could exhale after escaping with a 45-44 win over North Babylon in a Class AA semifinal.

Rewind a bit: With the Flaming Arrows holding a one-point lead, Emily Carmel snagged a high ricochet off the front rim and whipped a pass to Doherty, the high scorer and a competent (and confident) free-throw shooter. Doherty was fouled with 20.3 seconds left and sank both shots to give No. 3 Sachem East a 45-42 lead.

But North Babylon's Tamara Simpson scored on a putback with seven seconds left, and a quick foul put Doherty back on the line for a one-and-one with 5.2 seconds left. Her first shot missed and opportunity's door cracked open for North Babylon.

"You can't doubt yourself, so I go up there knowing I'll hit them. Uh, that last one, I don't know what happened," said Doherty, who had 14 points and seven steals and then was able to smile away the miss.

The second-seeded Bulldogs had one last chance, but a 15-foot fadeaway to the left of the paint nicked off the side of the rim as time expired.

SEE PHOTOSSachem East 45, North Babylon 44

"My life flashed before my eyes," Doherty said. The season flashed before her coach's eyes. Matt Brisson, mimicking himself in the final moment, gasped and said, "Don't go in!"

Kathleen Everson had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Katie Doherty added 10 points and three assists for the Flaming Arrows (18-2). Charise Wilson had 14 points and Simpson 12 for North Babylon.

By the fourth quarter, the 18-2 lead Sachem East enjoyed in the second seemed long ago. North Babylon had a scoring drought from Simpson's layup at 6:15 of the first quarter until Mary Chisholm's free throw with 6:21 left in the half.

But this couldn't have been a rout, not with the teams that gave us a 72-69 classic in the final last season on the same Farmingdale State court.

The Bulldogs (20-1) used a zone press and clawed back with turnovers, drives and midrange jumpers. It was 25-14 entering the third quarter but Wilson's jumper tied it at 27 and, on their next possession, drilled a corner three to give North Babylon its first lead at 3:26.

Doherty answered with a three, Chisholm retook the lead with a three-point play, and Carmel tied it again with a three at 1:32.

Sachem East went ahead for good on Meagan Doherty's free throw to open the fourth and extended it to 39-33 on Everson's layup with 6:28 left. Carmel's three with 4:34 to go made it 42-37. But North Babylon rallied again, and Chisholm's free throw at 3:06 pulled it within a point.

Sachem East will face Deer Park in the final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Farmingdale State.

"Wow, this game was crazy," Carmel said, bouncing as she spoke. "I'm still feeling butterflies."