Grace Balocca's winner lifts Ward Melville girls basketball over Floyd in Suffolk I opener

Grace Balocca didn’t think twice. When she received the pass from Julia Dank following a Ward Melville offensive rebound, the senior wasn’t going to allow the defense to adjust. She took the shot. And she finished it.

Balocca hit a running jumper from the elbow with one minute left in the fourth quarter to break a tie at 42 as host Ward Melville defeated Floyd, 45-42, in each team’s Suffolk League I opener on Tuesday.

“I just went for it and trusted myself,” Balocca said. “I went up with it and I knew it was going to go in.”

“That’s Grace,” coach Andrew Pelosi said. “When you’re that talented and that athletic, she doesn’t lose her composure and that’s the leadership you need and that showed tonight. We look for her and she came through.”

Balocca, who is committed to play lacrosse at Villanova, scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half as Ward Melville took a 21-15 lead into halftime. The Patriots (4-0, 1-0) expanded their lead to 28-17 with 3:38 left in the third quarter before Floyd (4-1, 0-1) closed the period on a 14-4 run. Ward Melville led 32-31 entering the fourth quarter and Kayla Gilmore scored 10 of her 23 points in the third quarter for Floyd.

But then there was a chance for both teams to decompress between the final two quarters. In a battle of two defending league champions, the Patriots expected a challenge.

“At the end of that quarter, we just brought it all together and realized what we were doing well [earlier] and brought that back,” Balocca said. “We looked at ourselves and knew we could win this game and that’s exactly what we did.”

Kaitlyn McNeil scored nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, including four points within the first 90 seconds of the period.

“I took the advantages when they were giving me the lanes, I’d just go and make my move,” McNeil said. “Make or miss, I knew my team was going to clean it up or I’d finish it myself.”

Jacky Sutherland hit a three-pointer with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 42 for Floyd. But the Ward Melville offense remained aggressive by attacking the rim and fighting for rebounds, culminating in Balocca’s winning basket.

“When she gets that ball in her hand and she takes that shot, I expect it to go in,” Pelosi said. “That’s just the shooter she is . . . She’s been fantastic. And that’s the perfect person to hit that shot. It’s just perfect.”