Battle-tested Wantagh edges Division

Wantagh’s girls’ basketball team was well prepared to tackle adversity in last Saturday’s critical league showdown against Division. 

The Lady Warriors, who entered the day having played four overtimes games, rebounded from a nine-point second half deficit for a 49-45 win to stay within reach of a Conference A-II title.  

Wantagh (8-7 overall, 6-2 league) had dropped three of the overtime contests including a 57-50 setback to first place South Side four days earlier and a 45-43 heartbreaker to Division last month on a three-pointer at the buzzer.

“We had so many games down the stretch that got away from us,” Wantagh head coach Stan Bujacich said. “All those tough games paid off.”

Division pieced together a 11-0 run starting late in the first half for a 30-21 lead before Wantagh responded with a 12-4 run to lead 35-34 heading into the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Caitlin Albanese helped spark the rally with a traditional three-point play on a coast-to-coast layup at the end of the period as part of a 22-point effort to go along with six rebounds.

“She really stepped it up,” Bujacich said of Albanese, who battled through a back injury suffered in the South Side loss.

Wantagh faced a major size disadvantage against Division and was able to get back into the game with pressure defense that led to transition scoring chances. Sophomore forward Hannah Doherty stepped up with 13 points and 10 rebounds while freshman forward Julia Wilkinson chipped in eight points.

“We’re a little small, but we’re quick, aggressive and athletic,” Bujacich said. “We’re an up-tempo team.”

Despite lacking the height of previous Warrior teams, Wantagh still managed to pull down some clutch rebounds to help fuel the comeback win. Doherty recorded 10 rebounds and scored off her own miss midway through the fourth quarter for a 42-39 lead. Sophomore Angela Labenbeg was also large on the glass with nine rebounds and freshman Jenna Kaufman recorded five boards.

Bujacich said this year’s team is of the youngest in his more than two decades behind the Wantagh bench with two freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors and two seniors. He is hopeful that pulling out a tight game Saturday against a neighborhood rival will build confidence for the end of the regular season and upcoming playoffs.

“Our goal is to win the conference,” said Bujacich, whose team entered the week trailing South Side by two games for first place. “We have to get help and we have to run the table, but we’re in the mix.”

After a week off for midterms, Wantagh returns to the court Saturday at Hewlett for a 2 p.m. tipoff before hosting New Hyde Park on Feb. 3 and Roosevelt on Feb. 8. Wantagh will close the regular season with a road game at South Side on Feb. 10 in a rematch of the Jan. 17 overtime loss where the Cyclones rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit.