Blue Devil Offense Stalls
A sputtering offense in the second and third quarters doomed the Huntington girls' basketball team in its Suffolk Class AA playoff game at Comsewogue. The Blue Devils lost an early lead and despite an exciting late run, lost to the Warriors, 44-37.
Huntington held an 8-5 advantage after eight minutes and went up 13-10 early in the second quarter before Comsewogue went on a 9-0 run to grab a 19-13 halftime lead.
The Blue Devils fell further behind in the third quarter. Everything that could go wrong did. Outside shots didn't drop, loose balls got away, errant passes were intercepted, foul shots were missed – you name it, it worked against Huntington.
The Warriors kept scoring in the third quarter as their lead ballooned to 32-17. It isn't easy to overcome a 15-point deficit in an eight minute quarter on the high school level, but the Blue Devils came close to doing it when their shots finally started to find their way through the hoop.
Huntington (9-10) went on a tear, outscoring Comsewogue (13-6) at one point, 17-6 to close to within four points at 38-34, but couldn't get any closer. A few more missed shots, costly turnovers and other mishaps sealed the Blue Devils' fate.
Jackie Waldron led Huntington with 16 points. Emma Hayes-Hurley added 10 points and Heather Forster knocked down another seven. Laurelle-Byrne-Cody and Courtney O'Bryan scored two points each.
"The girls played really hard," said Mike Kaplan, who won nine games in his first season as the Blue Devils' head coach. "I am really proud of them and all they have accomplished this season."
The noon game drew about 250 fans to the Comsewogue gym. The crowd included a Huntington student cheering section. The group waved a large Huntington flag from time to time and chanted throughout the game.
Blue Devil Notes: Linda Costello-Roth, a special education administrator and Huntington athletic coach attended the game as did Karen Fischer, a former Huntington basketball great and coach and current Jefferson Primary School physical education teacher . . . Former Blue Devil assistant coach Kim Betz-Gilroy was also in the bleachers . . . Blue Devil alum Matte Scully was also in the crowd.