Southampton advances to 'B' regional final
Southampton's guard Noel Hodges controls the ball guarded by Cold Spring Harbor's guard Jean Atkinson in the Long Island Class B final girls basketball game. (March 7, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
History did not come easily for Southampton.
The Mariners led by two points with a tenth of second left and Cold Spring Harbor's Jean Atkinson at the free-throw line. Atkinson made her first attempt, leaving a potential tying free throw for her second try.
"I'm just thinking in my head, please don't make the second one," said Southampton's Paris Hodges, who had 11 points. "We've worked so hard for this, coming to practice really early. Doing those extra sprints, and I just wanted to see it pay off."
Atkinson missed her second shot as Southampton held on to edge Cold Spring Harbor, 35-34, in the Class B girls basketball Long Island Championship/Southeast Regional semifinal Wednesday night at Farmingdale State.
It's the first Long Island crown for Southampton (20-4), which faces two-time defending state champ Irvington in the regional final at 5 p.m. Saturday at Farmingdale State.
The final minute was intense after Cold Spring Harbor cut a 17-point third-quarter deficit (32-15) all the way down to 35-33.
"It isn't even about it being frantic, we were never playing from behind," Southampton coach Rich Wingfield said. "Frantic only comes if you're having to play catch up. We had to now make a stop. I didn't want to make a stop by fouling a girl."
Atkinson stole the ball and the Seahawks had two shots and a pair of free throws to tie it but were unsuccessful.
Cold Spring Harbor (18-3) had to foul five times in the final 27.3 seconds to send Southampton to the line. Hodges, who had five assists and four steals, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 11.2 seconds to go, and Cold Spring Harbor got the ball back. The teams exchanged turnovers before Atkinson drew contact with .1 of a second left.
Kesi Goree (14 points, 11 rebounds) fueled a third-quarter run by Southampton, scoring eight straight Mariners points as Southampton went ahead 32-15 with less than two minutes to go in the quarter.
Kelly Vassallo had 12 points and Holly Logan added eight for Cold Spring Harbor. Vassallo (six) and Logan totaled 13 points during an 18-3 Seahawks run from 1:17 left in the third to just over a minute left in the fourth.
Both teams played exceptional defense in the first quarter as Southampton took a 9-2 lead. It was the fewest points Cold Spring Harbor scored in a quarter since its season opener.
