Wantagh nipped for county title

Rally falls just short against North Shore

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Wantagh girls’ basketball won its first Nassau County title 10 years ago at LIU Post’s Pratt Center and as the Lady Warriors prepared to play on that same court for last Saturday’s Class A championship, head coach Stan Bujacich played the game tape for his team.

Wantagh was unable to rekindle the magic of that 2005 team, but did take top-seeded North Shore to the wire in a 50-46 loss before a large vocal contingent of Lady Warriors fans. The hard-fought setback to North Shore, which has now captured three of the last four Class A titles, ended one of the best seasons in Wantagh girls basketball history at 18-3.

Wantagh’s last appearance in the county title game prior to Saturday came in 2006 when it repeated as champions.

“It is tough to end with a loss but at least they got to finish the season playing in an atmosphere like that,” Bujacich said. “We have a lot to look back on.”

The Lady Warriors fought back from a 29-19 deficit and cut the lead to two on three occasions in the fourth quarter, but were unable to get over the hump. North Shore senior Alex Cantwell proved to be the difference maker for the Lady Vikings scoring 25 points including a huge floater with just over a minute left to make it 45-41. A Christina Peden 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds cut the lead to 47-44, but Cantwell delivered clutch free throws down the stretch to thwart the comeback attempt.

“We didn’t break and that is a credit to our girls,” Bujacich said.

Senior Fordham-bound center Alex Parlato sat for most of the first quarter after picking up two fouls and was limited to 13 points after scoring 33 in Wantagh’s dramatic 66-62 semifinal win against rival Garden City on Feb. 20. She delivered a fourth quarter 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down that cut North Shore’s lead to 37-35.

Parlato was one of three Lady Warriors in double figures along with Darcie Smith (11 points) and Kiernan Rathgaber (10). Bujacich said he was impressed by Smith’s toughness and will look to her and guard Nikki Sliwak to be key senior leaders next year.

“She has no fear,” said Bujacich of Smith, who has committed to play girls lacrosse at Hofstra. “She will go through a brick wall for you.”

The loss closed the Wantagh careers of Parlato, Peden, Rathgaber and Kristina Perez. They helped lead Wantagh to three straight conference titles and were able to break through as seniors to reach the county finals after dropping quarterfinal home heartbreaking defeats the last two years.

“They put the energy back into our program,” said Bujacich of his seniors.

Bujacich said the packed atmosphere for the county championship was something he will always be touched by and it will create lasting memories for the players.

“I’m so appreciative of the support from the high school, administration and community,” he said. “I’ve never in my 23 years of coaching witnessed the crowd we had for Saturday’s game.”