Blue Devils in Playoffs at Commack on Thursday

The fifth seeded Huntington girls’ basketball team heads into battle at No. 4 Commack on Thursday at 5 p.m. in a Section XI Class AAA quarterfinal playoff game. The Blue Devils will be at full strength as they attempt to take down the Suffolk League II champs.

In his first year as Huntington’s varsity head coach Perry Marinelli has compiled an overall record of 15-5 (9-3 in League III). Marinelli assembled a staff that includes assistant Alyssa Adomaites, volunteer assistant Megan Marinelli and JV coach Leah Morawski. The quartet has worked well together and brought out the best in their players.

Tickets are available online only. No tickets can be purchased in cash at the game. Log onto https://gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAAXI to buy tickets for the game.

The winner of Thursday night’s game will meet the winner of No. 1 Brentwood vs. No. 8 Ward Melville on Wednesday, March 5 at Comsewogue High School at 7 p.m. in the Section XI Final Four.

Huntington and Commack met earlier this season in a non-league tournament game with the Blue Devils coming from behind to win 44-38. Sabrina Boyle poured in 14 points and Lauren Donaghy added 13 points and five rebounds. Jolie Weinschreider had eight points, Madyn Kalb dropped seven points and Ava McDonald scored two points. Boyle hit three free throws near the end of the game to put it out of reach.

“We have had a lot of days off these last few weeks and have been working really hard on putting everything together and being ready for Thursday,” Weinschreider said. “We have proved ourselves to the county that we are worthy of being here and we are prepared to show that on Thursday.”

Commack is well-coached and stocked with talented players. The team’s bench is deep a long list of players is capable of taking over a game at any point. This isn’t lost on Marinelli or his team.

“I think that we need to stay composed and keep playing like we have been all season,” Boyle said. “Even though we have beat them once we can’t go into the game assuming anything. We just need to do all the little things right and maintain a consistent positive mindset.”

During the layoff between the final regular season game and Thursday night’s playoff contest at Commack, the Blue Devils have scrimmaged Centereach, Smithtown West and Cold Spring Harbor to stay fresh.

“There’s no doubt that our team is in a strong position,” McDonald said. “All the hard work and commitment everyone on this team has put in, along with the continuous improvement we see every day, has us ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. We’ve shown ourselves to be one of the top teams in the county and now we are ready to prove it.”