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Sports

Comsewogue Warriors Fall to Third-Seed Sachem East in Playoffs

Warriors played with Sachem early on, but fell behind and couldn't recover.

After a slow start, defending champion Sachem East girls basketball defeated the Comsewogue Warriors, 45-34, Monday afternoon at Sachem East in the first round of the Section XI playoffs.

"We're a young team," said Sachem East coach Matt Brisson. "There are days when everything clicks, and there are days when the basket could be eight feet wide, and nothing is going in. Tonight was one of those latter days."

Although Sachem won the game, junior Meagan Doherty wasn't happy with her team's performance. "I don't think we played that well today," said Doherty, who finished the contest with a game high 16 points. "We were terrible in the first half, we weren't making layups, we weren't making foul-shots.

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"I just think if we want to win this year, we really have to step it up and not have games like this anymore."

Neither team came out shooting well, but Comsewogue, who defeated Huntington to get into the tournament, jumped out to an early lead, 8-3, thanks to strong play by senior Michelle Rubino. Sachem didn't hit a field-goal the first five minutes of the opening quarter.

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The Arrows were off being the three-point early in the game, an area that they've had success all season long. 

"It was a real struggle getting it going on the offensive end," said Brisson. "Lucky for us there's two halves in a game."

Comsewogue senior Taylor Ostrick hit a big 3-pointer to extend their early lead, 11-5. They left the first quarter with a 15-7 lead over the Arrows.

The tide began to change in the second quarter. Sachem freshman Kathleen Everson opened the scoring with a bucket in the paint, trimming the gap to just six points. 

Meagan Doherty turned up her game in the second quarter, hitting a jump shot to bring Sachem to within four points, 17-13. The half finished with a score 17-14.

Sachem held the Warriors to just two points in the second quarter, the fewest in the school's young history. Their 14 first-half points was also the fewest in any playoff game since the program's first season in 2005.

Rubino led Comsewogue with six points at the half. Meagan Doherty led both teams with eight.

Sachem came out shooting to start the second half, finally finding their rhythm. Samantha Drake hit a free-throw to cut the Warriors' lead to just two. Off the inbound, Meagan Doherty stripped the defender and drained the basket to tie the game at 17-17.

The Arrows took their first lead of the afternoon on an Everson jump-shot. The Warriors answered right back with a beautiful drive by Rubino, who was her team's best player on the afternoon. 

Sachem's Emily Carmel hit her first of three, 3-pointer to give Sachem a 24-20 lead, their biggest at the point. She finished the game with nine points, all on 3-point shots. But like earlier, the Warriors answered quickly when Cindy Edwards' hit a 3-point shot of her own, narrowing the gap, 24-23.

Moments later, Meagan Doherty stripped the Comsewogue player with the ball, rushed down the court for what appeared to be an easy layup. Rubino, however, caught her and blocked her shot, keeping it a one point game.

With Sachem up 32-27 after a 3-pointer by the Warriors' Sam Kane early in the fourth quarter, Meagan Doherty hit a 3 of her own, extending the lead 35-27. Rubino answered right back with another 3, getting the friendly bounce from the corner, cutting the lead 35-30. It was the closest they would get.

It was all Sachem the rest of the way. Another layup by Meagan Doherty gave Sachem a 40-30 lead. Carmel's final 3-pointer of the afternoon extended Sachem's lead to 11, 43-32. They would go on to win 45-34.

"[Sachem] has three shooters," said Comsewogue head coach Justin Seifert. "When they get hot- they got hot in the second half- we got caught up on a couple screens, and it hurt us. When we're not putting up points, it's going to be tough to beat Sachem East."

Although disappointed with the loss, Seifert said he was proud of the progress his school made this season, including the first time they won a double-A playoff game. "The girls have a lot to be proud of," he said. "Being one of the smallest schools in the four leagues is a big accomplishment for them."

Sachem will play the winner of William Floyd and Riverhead. Sachem defeated Floyd twice in the regular season, but Brisson said this is the point in the tournament where the games get even tougher. 

"The beauty of the tournament- and this is what you practice for all year- is now the funnel gets tighter, and every game you play gets more difficult," he said. "It's kind of surrealistic that we're back here again. I feel like it just ended, and it was magic. But it's taking me right back to where every game is more difficult than the one before."

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