Sachem's Three-Point Barrage Sinks Ward Melville Girls

For most of the night, the Ward Melville girls basketball team had gone toe to toe with one of the best teams in the state. If Sachem East scored, the Patriots struck back. If the hosts made a run, so did the visitors.

However, there was a span of barely a minute in the fourth quarter for which Melville had no answer. There may not be a squad in the county that can.

A wave of three trifectas – from three different players and from three different places on the floor – came over a stretch of 1:17 in the final quarter, extending East’s lead from six to 15. Ward Melville, on East’s heels throughout, was unable to climb back into the contest, ultimately falling 49-40 to its League I rival.

“I thought we played very well,” Patriots head coach Lawrence Combs said. “The only thing was that minute-and-a-half defensive lapse. Other than that, pound for pound, we were just as good, if not a little bit better. Their shooters were on and they hit their foul shots.”

East (6-1, 4-0 League I) tried to pull away late in the third quarter, building an 11-point lead early in the fourth, but Ward Melville (2-4, 2-2 League I) responded with five straight points. Megan Murtaugh hit a short jumper to slice the Arrows’ 40-29 lead down to nine, and it dipped to eight when Vanessa Pryor sank one of two free throws. When Caysea Cohen chased down a long rebound and hit a floater in the paint with 5:39 left, the deficit was down to 40-34.

However, Sachem rushed down the floor after Cohen’s make and Victoria Hassett bumped the Arrow advantage to nine with a three-pointer. On East’s next possession, it was Meagan Doherty’s turn from deep as she came around a double-screen on the baseline and drilled a trifecta from the left corner. Finally, freshman Kathleen Everson hauled in a rebound and found an open Katie Doherty at the top of the key, and she hit Sachem’s third three in a span of 1:17. In the bat of an eye, East, which hit eight threes on the night, led 49-34.

“You just don’t see anything like that,” Combs said. “They have four or five girls who play basketball 12 months a year. That’s why they’re a great shooting team.”

The youngest Doherty’s hoop, which came with 4:06 remaining, ended up being the team’s final points of the night. Ward Melville slowly chipped away at the Arrow lead, scoring the next six points. Its last bucket came with 51 seconds to go on a Murtaugh putback, but time was their biggest enemy by that point.

Cohen led the Patriots with 13 points, while Murtaugh, an All-League selection a year ago, had her best offensive night of the season, pitching in with 11. Combs said, if Ward Melville’s to reach its goal of the playoffs, consistent double-digit efforts from the junior pivot player would give a huge lift to the team’s inconsistent offense.

The sides traded baskets for much of the first half, with the Patriots seizing a two-point lead after a quarter. East bounced back to take a four-point halftime lead, 22-18

Despite the loss, going stride for stride with the state’s seventh-ranked team in Class A – per the most recent New York State Sportswriters Association poll – is a boost to the team’s confidence heading into Thursday’s home meeting with Patchogue-Medford (6:15 p.m.).

“As a coach, you’re never satisfied,” Combs said. “There’s always something you can do better, but we’re 2-2 in the league. We lost by four points to Lindenhurst and we could have beat them, and then we played a team that’s ranked in the state and we were right there.”