Lauren Donaghy’s Career Day Lifts Huntington

Lauren Donaghy turned in a career day with 26 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals to lift the Blue Devil varsity girls’ basketball team over visiting North Babylon on Saturday in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium, 51-23.

Huntington staked out an early 15-6 lead and after a 10-2 second quarter run, was ahead at halftime, 25-8. The Blue Devils put the game away by outscoring North Babylon in the third quarter, 16-3.

Huntington was missing two starters in Allison Ntambwe and Ava McDonald, but the Blue Devils were still able to play their best game of the season.

“I think we played really well as a team today,” Donaghy said. “Our offense and defense looked good and we were able to turn steals into points. It was nice to see our work pay off and secure a win.”

Gianna Forte had five points, eight rebounds and five assists and Kayleigh Bender added seven points and 10 rebounds. Zaida Correal scored four points.

“Today was a really good team win,” Forte said. “The energy from the court to the bench was really great. It was another step in the right direction for our team. We have some big games coming up in the next few weeks and are ready to compete with these teams.”

It was Donaghy’s second big game in a three day period. The junior scored 24 points at Smithtown West on Thursday night.

“I was happy with the way I played today,” Donaghy said. “I had my best scoring game of the season with 26 points. My threes were finally falling as well, which felt good. Even though some of my shots didn’t drop, I found other ways to score or find my teammates that were able to execute and score themselves.”

Kaylee Smalling scored three points and Grace Gordon, Isabella Palacios and Reese Rinaldi all had two points each. The Blue Devils scored 11 points at the free throw line.

Huntington has experienced growing pains. The team has only one senior in Forte and Ntambwe came aboard late after transferring from St. Mary’s. But head coach Mike Kaplan is hopeful that everything will come together and produce a successful season.