Sydney Moore's long shot inspires Farmingdale girls to 'AA' win
Sydney Moore had made the shot before, but never on a stage like this.
The senior guard on the Farmingdale girls basketball team will often spend her breaks at practice with a few teammates, attempting unorthodox shots that may come up in a game for fun.
She put her practice to good use Thursday, hitting a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter in front of Farmingdale’s bench, after grabbing an offensive rebound, spinning and putting up a shot from the baseline.
“We mess around at practice a lot and do crazy shots, so it was exciting to get one of those,” Moore said. “I was completely shocked. The ball came off the rim and I got the rebound and I heard my coach yell “Shoot it” so I just chucked it up and it went in.”
The basket helped lead the No. 5 Dalers to a 65-53 victory at No. 4 Uniondale in a Nassau AA quarterfinal Thursday afternoon. Moore scored eight points, all in the third quarter, as the Dalers took a 45-38 lead into the fourth.
A month removed from a 27-point loss to Uniondale, Kelly Bergersen led the Dalers with 24 points Thursday. Farmingdale (13-7) opened the second half on a 14-6 run, and started the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run.
“I didn’t expect us to roll over and die,” Bergersen said. “We’re not that kind of team and we definitely put in all the time and effort for this game. We remembered the last game, it was almost disrespectful how we rolled over and didn’t fight back.”
Bergersen provided consistent production, scoring at least five points in each quarter. Keleysha Petit-Frere and Jax Gregorovic each added 11 points for Farmingdale.
“Kelly has the ball in her hands so much that it’s hard to imagine all of the pressure on her,” coach Pete Cerrone. “She has to dribble, pass and shoot against a team that’s all over. And putting the ball in her hands, I feel a lot better.”
Tyasia Williams had 18 points and Kapri Bradshaw added 13 points to lead Uniondale (15-5).
Next for Farmingdale will be No. 1 Baldwin, the two-time defending state champions, Monday at Farmingdale State College at 5 p.m. Baldwin defeated Port Washington 85-32 on Friday.
“Obviously Baldwin is a powerhouse in Long Island basketball, so we’re just going to try to prove that we belong to be playing in the game,” Moore said . . . “We’re going to work really hard to try to prove a point and shock people.”
