A very young Huntington High School varsity girls’ basketball team found a way to reach the Suffolk Class AA playoffs this year and set the stage for even more success next winter.
Coached by Mike Kaplan and Marissa Bergmann, the 14-player Blue Devil squad was captained by seniors Paige Lennon, Christie Baade and Alyssa Sorensen. Huntington finished 8-8 in league and went 10-11 overall.
Basketball team captains Christie Baade, Paige Lennon and Alyssa Sorensen. (Darin Reed photo.)
The Blue Devils started the year off by winning the Anil John Tip-off Classic at Islip. Junior Abby Maichin was named the tournament MVP and Christie Baade made the All-Tournament team.
Maichin went on to capture All-League and All-Conference honors. Freshman Emily Plachta and sophomore Jordan Forte were named All-League. Lennon, Baade and Sorensen all garnered Academic All-County recognition. Freshman Junie Nostile was Huntington’s Rookie of the Year Award recipient.
Maichin averaged 14 points per game for the Blue Devils and Plachta averaged 12. “Both worked very hard every day in practice and came ready to go,” Kaplan said.
Lennon shined as a defensive specialist. “Paige is extremely quick, Kaplan said. “She made it difficult for opponent’s ball handlers. She improved tremendously.”
Baade led Huntington in rebounds. “Christie is an outstanding leader and she worked very hard every day,” Kaplan said.
Sorensen made contributions, too. “Alyssa has great court awareness,” Kaplan said. “She’s an outstanding ball handler and made great passes to her teammates.”
One of the season’s highlights came against Riverhead. “We were tied with them at a tournament and the girls worked hard to get a 40-32 win,” Kaplan said.
Another highlight was a 35-34 victory over Newfield. “The girls played tough and never gave up,” Kaplan said. “When in tough situations the girls did a great job working together to get the job done.”
The roster also included eighth graders Laurel Bonn and Gianna Forte; freshmen Katie Browne and Makaylah Frazier; sophomores Alexa Amorison and Charlotte Maggio; and junior Holly Wright.
“I truly enjoyed coaching this team,” Kaplan said. “They are a wonderful group of girls that leaned on each other for support. They were a pleasure to coach day in and day out. We have 11 girls coming back with great experience. The future is bright.”
