Plainedge girls basketball's Peyton Wise scores 17 points, helps Red Devils advance to Nassau A final
The Plainedge girls basketball team celebrates after a Nassau Class A girls basketball semifinal against Wantagh at Farmingdale State College on Thursday Feb. 26, 2026. Credit: Sam Johnston
Plainedge was up three and standing eight seconds from a trip to the Nassau Class A final. But the Red Devils were going to need one last stop against the top-seeded defending champs from Wantagh in order to get there.
“We pride ourselves on our defense,” Plainedge coach Sarah Tansey said.
Out of a timeout, the play was for Kayla Mannix to drive and kick out to Isabelle Ferraro. But that defense rose up and Wantagh failed to get off a final shot.
After dropping two regular-season games to Wantagh, the fourth-seeded Red Devils claimed a 44-41 semifinal victory Thursday night at Farmingdale State.
“Oh my gosh, this means everything, just for the girls,” Tansey said. “These girls work so hard. We push them every single day. We had eight girls return. Last year, we had a team basically of all sophomores.
“We talked a lot last year about just putting in the work for the future all together. And that came to fruition tonight.”
Peyton Wise scored 17 points, Michela Netto added 12 and Allie Younghans had 10. So 16-6 Plainedge will go for the title here at 5:30 p.m. on March 6 against No. 3 Floral Park, a 45-36 winner over No. 2 Seaford in Thursday night’s second semifinal.
“It’s our first time being here as a group, so definitely there are some nerves,” Netto said. “But I think that if we play the way we’ve been playing together on defense, our effort, I think we can do it.”
Plainedge led 43-40 when Mannix made a steal and was fouled with 18.9 seconds left. She made one of two. Wantagh then fouled Netto with eight seconds remaining.
“I’m not going to lie; I was pretty nervous going into it,” Netto said.
The junior forward missed the first but hit the second, forcing Wantagh to go for a three that didn’t materialize.
“We all played our hearts out,” Younghans said.
Wantagh trailed 24-16 at halftime and 29-17 2:26 into the third. Then Ferraro converted a three-point play and nailed a three, launching a comeback.
Mannix and Makayla McNeil topped Wantagh with 11 points apiece. Ferraro scored 10. But this basketball team, a state finalist last season, lost its nine-game winning streak and finished at 19-3.
“We won the (A-I) conference; I can’t complain,” coach Stan Bujacich said. “It’s a great season. You’re not going to take away the 19 wins.”
