Taydra Simpson shakes off fall to lead Longwood girls basketball in Suffolk overall final

Taydra Simpson hit the floor hard and stayed down for probably the longest minute of the season for Longwood girls basketball fans.

She was tangled up shortly following a layup by West Babylon’s Lacey Downey with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter. Trainers came to her side, but Simpson knew she just had the wind knocked out of her. It was going to take more than that to keep her out of the Suffolk overall final.

"I just knew I needed a second," Simpson said. "I was going to get back out there."

Simpson returned less than a minute later and finished with 18 points and five steals as Longwood defeated West Babylon, 64-43, in the girls basketball Suffolk overall final Monday evening at Longwood High School.

"You know your kid and I knew she was OK," coach James Castiglione said. "You know the warrior she is and that wasn’t going to take her out. She wasn’t going to finish her senior year playing her last home game here sitting next to our assistants."

Downey led West Babylon to a strong start, scoring nine points in the opening period and taking a 20-13 lead. But Longwood closed the final 3:14 of the second period on a 7-0 run to tie the score at 27 entering halftime.

The Lions led, 42-37, after the third quarter and outscored West Babylon, 22-6, in the fourth.

"This was a major goal for us," said Giselle Harris, who had 19 points. "Not many people get to be here, and we do. And we weren’t going to waste it."

Harris, a freshman, scored eight points in the third quarter as Castiglione said he’s seen tremendous improvement from her all season.

"The growth that she’s made over the course of the year is probably the most dramatic we’ve had in the program in 10 years," he said. "She gives us another scorer, another player teams have to prepare for and she’s a shotmaker."

Simpson scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter.

"That time is always Taydra Simpson time," Castiglione said. "It’s just her five years of being in wars and being able to get people settled in. That’s always her time."

Danielle Wenzek added 16 points for Longwood and Downey had 12 points for West Babylon.

West Babylon (20-4) will play Plainedge in the Long Island Class A championship/Southeast Regional Final at Eastport-South Manor High School Saturday at 11 a.m. Longwood (21-1) and Baldwin (16-4) follow in the Long Island Class AA championship/Southeast Regional Final at 1:30 p.m.

"This is all we’ve ever wanted," Wenzek said. "Especially for us seniors. We want to go upstate and we want to take it all."

"Coach [Tom] Catapano, he’s established them as the flagship program on Long Island," Castiglione said. "The last decade, it’s so impressive what coach has done over there. … We’re going to go out there and play for 32 minutes and see what happens."

Longwood defeated Baldwin, 48-43, in the 2019 Long Island Class AA final.

"It’s going to be a challenge because they are very athletic," Wenzek said. "But I think our team is up to it."