Emma Blloshmi leads West Babylon to its first Suffolk girls basketball Class A final

Emma Blloshmi and her fellow Eagles soared to new heights on Friday night.

With a 43-38 home victory over No. 3 Sayville in a Suffolk Class A girls basketball semifinal, No. 2 West Babylon is headed to the county final for the first time in program history, according to first-year head coach Ron Langella.

“Our program has never made it this far, and I’m just so honored to keep playing,” said Blloshmi, a sophomore guard who led the Eagles with 16 points.

West Babylon (19-3) will face No. 1 Westhampton in the county final at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at St. Joseph’s College.

Clinging to a one-point advantage in the final minute, an inbounds play freed up Blloshmi for a wide-open layup to extend West Babylon’s lead to 41-38 with 25.5 seconds remaining.

“I just knew every layup had to go in and that we couldn’t miss shots anymore,” Blloshmi said. “Just fight for all the other girls on our team because we each wanted it so badly for each other.”

The Eagles contested a three-pointer from the top of the key on the ensuing possession, which came up short with 10 seconds to go. Junior forward Olivia Vergano knocked down a pair of free throws with 1.7 seconds left to clinch the victory for West Babylon, which trailed 30-28 entering the fourth quarter.

“I’m so honored to help carry and lead this team,” said Vergano, who scored 11 points. “It’s just a great feeling.”

With the score tied at 38, West Babylon forward Brianna Winkler grabbed a crucial offensive rebound with 48.6 seconds remaining after a missed three-pointer from the corner. She immediately drew a foul and connected on one of two free throws, giving the Eagles a one-point lead. Sayville (17-5), led by Emma Famularo’s 13 points, was called for an offensive foul on the next possession before Winkler’s late layup.

After serving two years on the staff as an assistant, Langella said reaching the county final was West Babylon’s goal from the outset of the season.

“This was our goal,” he said. “We know that when you coach in this district you’re going to get tough kids…It’s a lot of discipline and hard work, and they eat it up…But our goal was to get here.”

Freshman guard Lacey Downey, who had seven points, is confident that these Eagles aren’t finished soaring.

“I think we’re going to win counties and keep going,” Downey said. “And I think that’s a great thing for West Babylon.”