Goree leads Southampton girls to final
Southampton's ##25 Kesi Goree, left, and #5 Sunceri Cofield box in Southold's #11 Nicole Busso in a Suffolk girls basketball final. (Feb. 25, 2012) Credit: Kevin P Coughlin
Kesi Goree was the recipient of an intentional foul early in the second quarter. The Southampton junior got up very slowly and was clearly in pain. She missed both free throws, but that's about the only thing that she didn't do well.
Goree played through the pain and scored 16 points for Southampton in a 56-21 win over Southold Saturday in the Suffolk BC girls basketball game at St. Joseph's (L.I.). Southampton (18-3) will play Glenn in the Small Schools championship at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Farmingdale State.
Southold (15-6), which was led by eight points from Lauren Ficurilli, will play Friends Academy in the Long Island Class C championship at 5 p.m. March 7 at Farmingdale State.
"I actually pulled a muscle in my leg," Goree said. "I just had to get up. I owe too much to my team to go out so early. I played through some pain."
She did so effectively with 10 points in a 27-12 first half.
"Kesi is our captain," Southampton coach Rich Wingfield said. "She brings the motivation. With that motivation, she puts the others on her back. She did it in the Hampton Bays game. She constantly tells the team don't let down."
Wingfield was referring to the Mariners' previous game when they rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 35-31 in the Suffolk Class B championship.
Southold was competitive early in the game. Carley Staples scored to pull Southold within 7-6 with 3:06 left in the first quarter. Paris Hodges (eight points) followed with a three-pointer and Goree scored on a putback to give the Mariners a 12-6 lead after one quarter.
Kelly Bosco hit a three-pointer with 5:07 left in the second quarter as Southold cut it to 15-11. That's when Southampton began to take over. Goree started it with a pair of free throws with 3:35 left. As usual, it was the defense that spurred the offense for the Mariners.
Noel Hodges and Goree each had a steal leading to a transition layup. Sydney Katz capped the half with a layup and a jumper to cap a 12-1 run in the final 3:35 of the first half.
The dominance continued into the third quarter as the Mariners led 39-16 after three.
"This is going to be really good for us," Southold coach Katie Hennes said. "That is the type of program we want to be the next couple of years. The girls are down right now, but this is the competition we want. Southampton is a good team. We don't really see that type of defensive play. It's hard to prep for that. Good things will come of this."
Southampton has been building to this for a few years with the core of the team juniors who are playing in their fourth season on varsity. The Mariners won the county championship for the first time since 1999.
"We have been playing together for a long time," said Cassidy Guida, who scored eight points. "We have good chemistry."
