Massapequa girls basketball's Savanna Appleton's late surge sends team to Nassau 'AAA' final
Savanna Appleton #5 of Massapequa sizes up a free throw against Uniondale during a Nassau girls basketball Class AAA semifinal playoff game at Farmingdale College on Sunday, March 1, 2026 Credit: David Meisenholder
Though their Sunday began nightmarishly, the players on the Massapequa girls basketball team remembered who they truly were once crunch time came.
Third-seeded Massapequa rode a hot second half to take down seventh-seeded Uniondale, 50-41, in the Nassau Class AAA semifinals at Farmingdale State College. Massapequa (19-3) will return to Farmingdale State to face top-seeded Baldwin (19-3) in the finals at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Massapequa’s offense struggled early, sinking into a 16-11 halftime deficit. Needing a spark, junior guard Molly Hoffman provided it, scoring her first two points of the game with a fast-break layup at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 19-18. That basket heated her up, as she continued to go downhill and find success, tying the score at 22 with another layup just over a minute later.
Trailing 29-27, Hoffman drove to the rim, drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to tie it with 1:26 remaining in the third frame. The score remained tied until the quarter’s final play, when Hoffman pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back in as the buzzer sounded, giving Massapequa a 31-29 lead.
The buzzer-beater provided Massapequa its first palpable energy boost of the day.
“We were 100% more energized,” Hoffman said. “We played so well in that third quarter and finally woke up, and that carried into the fourth quarter, which is great.”
Hoffman finished with 10 points, four rebounds, a steal and four blocks. Her squad rode the momentum of her buzzer-beater into the final period, where senior center Savanna Appleton dominated. Appleton scored 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, and in doing so, willed her team across the finish line.
With the score tied at 38, Appleton took matters into her own hands. She took a backcourt pass and brought it all the way to the rim before laying it in put Massapequa up 40-38 with exactly four minutes left. On the ensuing defensive possession, Appleton grabbed a rebound and again took it the full 94 feet for another fast-break layup.
Appleton added 10 rebounds, an assist, two steals and three blocks. Senior guard Zahara Saintyl led Uniondale (9-10) with 24 points, 12 rebounds, six steals and four blocks.
With 2:25 left, Appleton knocked down a mid-range jump shot from the left lane to go up three possessions, 47-39.
“I didn’t want my basketball career to end like that, so I needed to step up for the team,” Appleton said. “I’m super happy we all woke up and were able to work together to get the win.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
