Stolba leads Harborfields to 'A' final

Kasey Stolba was annoyed with her first-half performance. The Harborfields forward had scored just two points and she was in foul trouble.

"I was frustrated in the first half because I wasn't hitting my shots," Stolba said. "When I get frustrated with myself it makes me play better and I came out in the second half and knew I really had to step up my game if I wanted to be a factor."

She became a factor for the Tornadoes, scoring 11 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 13 in leading No. 2 Harborfields over No. 3 Kings Park, 51-44, in a Suffolk Class A girls basketball semifinal afternoon.

Stolba added six rebounds and four steals and Bridgit Ryan had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the Tornadoes (17-3).

"She goes on [shooting] streaks like that," Harborfields coach Russ Tietjen said of Stolba. "[Otherwise] she's very consistent, runs the floor well, plays good defense and she usually finishes very well."

The teams were tied at 13 after the first quarter as Kings Park beat Harborfields down the floor for fast-break opportunities. The Tornadoes made an adjustment and held Kings Park to just 12 points in the second and third quarters combined.

"We were a little more conservative in our defense ," Tietjen said. "In the beginning we were trying to pressure them and make them run a little bit."

Said Ryan: "Coach told us we had to get back and we stopped their fast break. They were running their half-court offense and we were able to stop them."

Harborfields hit a pair of three-pointers in the final minute of the first half to take a 24-18 lead into the break and the Tornadoes built the lead to 35-25 after Ryan made a deep three in the closing seconds of the third. Harborfields had a 15-point lead with 2:42 left but Kings Park went on a 17-6 run to close the gap to four points with 19.7 seconds remaining. Harborfields made three free throws to close the game and defeat their league rivals for the third time this season.

Marion Kawecki had 10 points and Taylor Bailey had nine points for Kings Park (15-5).

"I said to the girls, 'If we had another minute, minute-and-a-half, we might have pulled it out,' " Kings Park coach Tom Edmundson said.

Harborfields, the two-time defending Class A champions, will play No. 1 Glenn in the final at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph's College. It is the fourth time in five years Harborfields will play in the finals.