Westhampton girls basketball's Sandra Clarke scores 31 points to help capture Long Island Class AA title
Westhampton celebrates after capturing the Long Island Class AA girls basketball championship against Garden City on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 in Stony Brook. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
When Sandra Clarke grabbed the final rebound as the clock hit zero, she started to cry.
And understandably so. The Westhampton girls basketball team just secured its first Long Island Class AA championship since 2005. Clarke tallied a season-high 31 points in the 61-58 win over Garden City on Wednesday at Stony Brook University.
“It was tears of joy,” Clarke said. “We’ve been here three times before, so it felt amazing to finally get it done.”
Westhampton (22-2) will next play Nyack in the state quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Sunday at Yorktown High School. After falling short in the past three Long Island championships, coach Katie Peters said this victory is long awaited.
“This feels unbelievable and to finally get over this Long Island hump is something these girls were prepared for since day one,” Peters said.
After trailing all game, Trojans’ eighth-grader Katelyn Parker hit a 3-pointer and Maisa Patrissi took a charge with less than a minute remaining in the third to begin turning the tide; Westhampton held on to the lead, 47-43, heading into the fourth.
A midrange jumper from Patrissi gave Garden City its first lead, 51-50, with 2:40 remaining in regulation, but Jasmine Taylor’s height in the paint earned the Hurricanes valuable possession. The 5-10 senior pulled down four rebounds.
“We were thinking about those losses and knowing, as seniors, that this is our last shot, that was really the motivator,” Taylor said. “We had to leave it all on the floor.”
Leading only 59-58 with 11.5 seconds remaining, sophomore Mia Velez drew a foul and, with the weight of a season on the line, she had what it took. Velez drained the final two free throws to seal the win for Westhampton.
“I had to make those for the team,” Velez said. “This team is special and, for Sandra and Jasmine, this was their last chance to win one. They’re who I was thinking about.”
Coming off a sickness that hardly held her back in the county championship, Clarke said she was feeling only 85% heading into Wednesday’s game. If her 85% netted 31 points, Clarke said the best is yet to come in the state tournament.
“If I was 85% today, hopefully I’ll be 100% by the next time we play,” Clarke said. “Every game needs to be another level up because I don’t want this to end.”
Grace Brantuk recorded a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double for Garden City, who finished 19-5 in their first Long Island championship appearance since 2013.
“Garden City plays excellent defense,” Peters said. “They play hard and they’re a great team. When you put two great teams on the court together, this environment is bound to happen.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
