It’s just about crunch time for the Huntington girls’ basketball team. The Blue Devils don’t have to win every game remaining on their schedule, but they need to come close to it.
Huntington entered this week with an overall mark of 8-6; 4-4 in league play. The Blue Devils have six games remaining, including contests with Half Hollow Hills East, Newfield, Smithtown East, North Babylon, Centereach and Copiague.
Huntington avenged an early season loss to Smithtown West last Thursday night when the Blue Devils toppled the visiting Bulls, 54-43 before a crowd of 150 fans.
Huntington took a 31-22 halftime lead before going on a 14-7 third quarter run to extend its advantage to 45-29. The Bulls rallied over the final eight minutes to cut their deficit by five points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Blue Devils’ large lead.
Abby Maichin led Huntington with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Alexandra Heuwetter also scored 20 points and Katie Seccafico added nine points. Paige Lennon and Nicole Leslie both had two points. Charlotte Maggio scored a point from the free throw line.
Heuwetter dropped a pair of three-points. Maichin and Seccafico also hit shots from beyond the three-point arc.
The Blue Devils capitalized on many of their opportunities, including scoring 14 points from the free throw line.
Huntington finds itself trailing Hills East, North Babylon and Copiague in the league standings. The Blue Devils have dropped games to all three teams, split a pair of contests with Smithtown West and bested Smithtown East, Centereach and Newfield the first time through the schedule.
“Confidence is key in order for us to be successful for the rest of the season,” Heuwetter said. “Several players stepped up against Smithtown West and as a result we came up with a big win. Now we have to keep that energy and confidence throughout our remaining games if we want to make a run at the playoffs.”
Coaches Mike Kaplan and Marissa Bergmann have the team concentrating on one game at a time. “We are continuously working hard in practice and keeping our heads high,” Seccafico said. “We just need to really focus on these next couple weeks to secure a spot in the playoffs.”