Emma Parente's three-pointer lifts East to victory in Suffolk All-Star games
Who says All-Star games can’t be competitive?
The Suffolk Police Athletic League’s second annual Exceptional Senior Girls Basketball Challenge championship game came down to the last shot.
Trailing two points with five seconds left, Emma Parente nailed a three-pointer from five feet behind the arc to end the East All-Star team’s 64-63 win over the North team, Sunday at Patchogue-Medford High School.
“I really didn’t think that was going in,” Parente said. “I was expecting [Kristin Suydan] to put it back in.”
The Sachem East student will play soccer at SUNY Oneonta in the fall and enjoyed the opportunity to step on the hardwood one last time.
Commack’s Fiona Kernaghan made a layup with 15 seconds left to give the North team a 63-61 lead. Kernaghan, who scored 15 points, tore her MCL in Commack’s second game of the season. She was able to return for the playoffs, but only played in five games the whole year.
“I had a little bit of an empty feeling because I didn’t get to play much in my senior year,” Kernaghan said. “But this tournament helped me close this chapter better.”
Kernaghan will continue her basketball career at Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh.
Suydan (Sayville) finished with 19 points and Shoreham-Wading River’s Sophie Costello was named MVP with 17 points.
Towards the end of the second quarter of the boys championship game, Bay Shore’s Aiden Swinson was leading a “Defense” chant on the West team’s bench.
“I think being on the bench is the biggest role on a basketball team,” Swinson said. “They came out with more energy than us in the first half, so we had to pick it up going into the second half.”
Swinson scored 20 points to lead the West All-Star team to a 108-88 win over the North team. He threw down an emphatic tomahawk dunk in the first quarter and was named MVP.
Even in an All-Star game, scoring 100 points is no small feat.
“It just means we had chemistry,” said Bellport’s Samir Bell, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. “We’re all coachable and we know how to work with each other. This was a great opportunity.”
The afternoon of championship games was kicked off by the unified game, which saw the white team defeat the blue team, 49-32. Andrew Kowalski of Commack was named MVP.
“We’re very happy to include the unified division,” said Anthony Guzzone, a Suffolk County police officer and member of the PAL’s Community Relations team. “To me, it’s the most fun of all the games we play.”
