Stony Brook Girls Capture Class C Hoops Title Against Friends Academy

The Stony Brook School captured the Long Island Class C championship on Tuesday night with a 35-26 win over Friends Academy, earning a trip to Mount Saint Mary College for a chance to head to the NYSPHSAA State Tournament on March 19th.

Seniors Jessica Winston and Brannon Burke led Stony Brook (15-6) in the win with 11 points each. Freshman Kristina Kim was the high scorer for Friends Academy (9-10) with seven points.

“All of our players stepped up whether they were starters or role players,” Stony Brook head coach Amy Helm said. “We just played great defense too. The biggest thing for us was to amp it up on defense and not give open looks to them.”

The Bears started off on the right foot in the first quarter, pushing their early advantage to 11-2 after Burke beat the shot clock with a three-pointer from the corner with just under two minutes to go. Stony Brook led 11-5 after the first eight minutes.

The Quakers continued their struggles on the offensive end, having a tough time getting to the basket with the size of Burke and senior Natalie Istrati in the paint.

Winston, who normally tries to set her teammates up with open shots first, provided a late spark with some offense of her own. The senior point guard knocked down a long two-pointer with under five seconds left to push her team's lead to nine at halftime, 20-11.

Just like Friends Academy did all season, they didn’t let the game get out of hand on the most critical of stages. Sophomore Morgan Mangiarotti tied the game up at 22-22 after a Stony Brook turnover, then knocked down a free throw on the next possession to give her team its first lead since the opening minutes after the end of three quarters.

Stony Brook took the lead right back after senior Danielle Pappas scored on the opening possession of the fourth. Winston followed the basket with five consecutive points of her own, eventually pushing the lead to 31-25 for the Bears. Stony Brook took care of business at the free throw line in the final minute to come out with the win and the Class C title.

“I was getting frustrated in the third because my shots weren’t falling, but luckily Jessica [Winston] was hitting big shots in the fourth,” Burke said of the comeback win. “It was critical that everyone stepped up to help us win it.”

Stony Brook will play the winner of the matchup between Haldane High School and Tri-Valley Central High School in the southeast regional final on Friday at 5 p.m.

“We need to have poise and be able to run all the way through our half-court sets and not break down if our first or second options aren’t there,” Helm said. “We're going to go back to the drawing board and really work on it. We need to stay with it until the end.”

The winner of the game on Friday will compete at Hudson Valley Community College on Saturday, March 19 at 12:30 p.m. in the Class C State semifinals.  

FA: Kim 7, Mapp 6, Reyes 5, M. Mangiarotti 4, R. Mangiarotti 4. Total: 26. SB: Burke 11, Winston 11, Vancol 5, Istrati 4, Pappas 4. Total: 35. Three-Pointers: FA: Mapp 2, Kim 1; SB: Burke 1, Winston 1.