BY Jake Williams | STAFF WRITER
Mount Sinai 's Emily Bongiorno corralled a defensive rebound, but Shoreham-Wading River 's Sam Villafranca did not want to let her have it.
As they wrestled for the ball, they went to the floor, with Villafranca, and then one of her teammates rolling over Bongiorno's back and onto the floor.
Thursday's contest at times resembled a rugby scrum or the crazed tunnel-vision chase for a loose ball on a football field. But like Bongiorno holding onto the rebound, the Mustangs would not let the Wildcats take the game away from them.
The Mustangs (11-2 in League VI, 13-4 overall) wrested away a 58-45 victory at Shoreham-Wading River (9-4, 13-4), and with it sole possession of the girls League VI basketball title, the first in school history.
"I can't even describe it," Bongiorno said.
Sarah Shine finished with a game-high 22 points for Mount Sinai . Bongiorno added 19 and Kelsey Lubin chipped in nine.
Before the game, Mount Sinai coach Kevin Walsh said the Mustangs would have to match the Wildcats' intensity and aggressiveness to win. With a plan of attack in place, they did.
"The first time we played them, their pressure really hurt us and we made mistakes," Walsh said. "I think we had a better understanding of what we had to do tonight."
Added Bongiorno, "We felt more comfortable, I guess."
The only time after the first quarter the Wildcats threatened came at the start of the second half. Danielle Landon got to the free throw line for two. Then, after he Mustangs then missed a shot, Caley Lavey gathered the rebound and whipped a pass to Villafranca, who led the Wildcats with 11 points, for an easy layup. In 36 seconds, the Wildcats had matched their second quarter scoring total, and what had been a 12-point lead was cut to seven. That was as close as the Wildcats would get because Bongiorno kept breaking their defensive traps.
"A lot of what we do is off our defense," Wildcats coach Dennis Haughney said. "If we can't make steals and make stuff happen like that defensively, then we sometimes struggle offensively because we're not really a half-court type of team."
Instead, the Wildcats were stuck passing the ball around the perimeter with only occasional luck forcing it into the post, not a recipe for success. Mount Sinai had its struggles offensively as well, but eventually the Mustangs willed their way out of it in the last three minutes of each of the first two quarters, taking a 25-14 lead into halftime.
It hurt the Wildcats, Haughney said, not to have center Corinne Wiederkehr available. She tried to come back from a knee injury last Tuesday, but could not play at full speed. Haughney said she would have an MRI done on Friday, but he is uncertain about her availability for the postseason.
So, he and the Wildcats will regroup for the playoffs while Walsh and his Mustangs enjoy the feeling of having won the League VI championship.
On Tuesday, the Wildcats will finish out their season at Amityville while the Mustangs host Westhampton.
jwilliams@northshoresun.com
Comments