Trailing by six points in the third quarter, the Huntington varsity girls’ basketball team staged a furious second half rally to take the lead and go on to topple West Islip, 39-32 and remain undefeated at 8-0.
The Blue Devils trailed 26-20 before regaining their footing and going on an 8-2 run. Huntington dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lions, 11-4 to capture the victory in the low scoring game.
Emily Plachta led all scorers with 20 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Makaylah Frazier scored six points and Katie Browne added five points. Asyria Rios had four points and Lauren Donaghy had three points. Gianni Forte scored a point from the free throw line.
“Despite it not being our best game, we were still able to come out with a win,” Plachta said. “Tomorrow it’s back in the gym, getting up shots and tweaking plays to get ready for Wednesday.”
Huntington is in first place in Suffolk League III. The loss dropped West Islip to 4-2. The Blue Devils host Bellport this afternoon at 4 p.m. The game will be livestreamed on the Huntington Blue Devil Sports YouTube channel, which can be found by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk46lE-ekxEKRwdFzZPgbqg
Huntington’s offense never really found its groove at West Islip. Plachta and Donaghy both connected on baskets from beyond the three-foot arc, but the Blue Devils struggled to score.
“We started off a little rough, but found our game and played our hardest,” Browne said. “We worked as a team and came out with a win, never giving up!”
Huntington’s defense bailed the team out and kept the Blue Devils undefeated. “We started off flat and needed to turn it around in the second half in order to come out on top,” said Forte, who excelled again as a playmaker. “It was a full team effort and we pulled out a win in the end. We are looking to improve on our mistakes and move onto the next game.”
