Wantagh eyes conference title

The Wantagh girls' basketball team is looking to avoid the heartbreaking home playoff defeats it suffered the last two years, but as February begins it is first focused on locking up a third straight league title.

The Lady Warriors (13-1 overall) entered the month one game ahead of Garden City in the Conference A-1 standings at 7-0 with three regular-season games remaining including a big Feb. 3 home contest with the Trojans. Winning the conference would give Wantagh one of the top seeds in the Nassau County playoffs and home court advantage in the early rounds. The Warriors accomplished this feat the previous two seasons before suffering last-second losses in the quarterfinals to Sewanhaka and Seaford.

“We want to get that home court advantage,” Wantagh head coach Stan Bujacich said. “We’re focused on that.”

Keying Wantagh’s success has been senior center Alex Parlato, who scored her 1,000th career point in a 54-28 win at Bellmore-JFK on Jan. 16. The Fordham-bound Parlato is averaging 17 points a game and has been a major rebounding force. 

“She is having a great year,” said Bujacich of the 6-foot-3 Parlato. “She is extremely unselfish.”

Aiding Parlato in the frontcourt is junior power forward Darcie Smith, who is averaging 13 rebounds a game. Smith, who has committed to play lacrosse at Hofstra, chipped in 12 points in a pivotal 61-54 win at Garden City on Jan. 13.

Wantagh has also gotten major contributions from its guards including senior Christina Peden, who is averaging 10 points and four assists per game. Anchoring the backcourt with Peden are junior Nikki Sliwak, who scored 12 points in a 61-49 win at Sewanhaka last Friday, and Kiernan Rathgaber, a strong defender that often guards the top opposing team’s player. Seniors Kristina Perez and Laura Mallon have also been important contributors to a Wantagh team that has scored above 60 points in six games and whose only loss was a 48-43 non-league setback against Copiague on Dec. 27.