Westhampton defense is the star in winning Suffolk 'A' semifinal

The Westhampton girls basketball team stole a victory on Friday afternoon — literally. 

Nursing a three-point lead With 3.8 seconds left, point guard Belle Smith picked off an inbounds pass by Hauppauge and subsequently hit a foul shot to help the top-seeded Hurricanes to a 57-53 win in a Suffolk A semifinal.

“[Hauppauge has] some great shooters, so we didn’t want them to get the ball,” said Smith, who had 17 points. “I made sure, whatever I had to do, I was not going to let them get that ball at the end.”

Layla Mendoza added 18 points for Westhampton (20-2). Maddy Torres led the fifth-seeded Eagles with 19 points.

After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, Westhampton tied it at 47 when Molly McCarthy drained a trey from the corner with 4:04 left in the fourth quarter.

Olivia Rongo hit the go-ahead basket 34 seconds later after blocking a shot on the defensive end and sprinting up the court for a quick transition basket that gave the Hurricanes some late-game confidence.

“I knew every point counted,” Rongo said. “There was no way I could miss that for our team.”

Westhampton coach Katie Peters credited the defense for slowing down Hauppauge (15-8) and holding the Eagles to two points during an almost six-minute stretch midway through the fourth.

The Hurricanes allowed just three fourth-quarter field goals.

“We say all the time that defense wins championships,” Peters said. “It’s the oldest quote in the book, but it really is true. We always say our defense has got to spark our offense.”

Hauppauge did its best to rally. Kayla Bullard connected on a straight-away three-pointer with 8.9 seconds left to make it 55-53, but Westhampton’s defense didn’t flinch. The Hurricanes also hit critical free throws, going 4-for-8 in the final 39.4 seconds.

“I always say let the nerves drive your excitement,” Smith said of the late shots. “If you’re nervous, use that nerve to inspire you and go for big things.”

Westhampton will take on the winner of No. 2 West Babylon in the county championship Tuesday at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College. The Hurricanes are hoping for the program’s first title since 2005.

“Coach always says there’s about ten league championships on that [gym] wall,” Smith said. “You can be one of the ten teams that’s a league champ or you can go on the other side of the wall and be state champ, county champs, Long Island champs, whatever we put our minds to.”