Shoreham-Wading River Girls Basketball Rallies Late, Claims Suffolk Class A Title

Trailing entering the fourth quarter and facing the top seed in Suffolk County, the Shoreham-Wading River girls basketball team did something that, as one reporter put it, would make for a great movie script. The No. 3 seeded Wildcats opened the final period with 12 unanswered points, poured in 18 total in the quarter, and walked off with a 44-41 upset victory over Mount Sinai to claim the Suffolk County Class A championship on March 14.

The 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter completely swung the momentum, turning what had been a deficit into a late lead with just minutes remaining. That burst proved to be the difference as Shoreham-Wading River finished the season at 20-2, having knocked off the top-seeded Mustangs in the process.

Sisters Anabel and Kady Keegan powered the offense. Anabel finished with a game-high 16 points while Kady added 12, accounting for 28 of the team's 44 points between them. Laurel Coster contributed six points, and both Leslie Jablonski and Shealyn Varbero chipped in five apiece to sustain the comeback push through the final minutes.

The Wildcats trailed for much of the game before the offense came alive in the fourth. Mount Sinai, which entered as the tournament's top seed, could not contain the Shoreham-Wading River surge once it began. The three-point margin in the final score reflects how tight the contest remained even after the comeback was complete.

The Suffolk Class A title adds another chapter to Shoreham-Wading River's recent run of athletic success. The school's girls soccer program claimed the same Suffolk Class A crown in November 2022, with forward Kya Condon scoring twice in a 3-1 win over East Islip, and that soccer team advanced to the Long Island championship. The 2019 soccer squad won a state title after its own county championship run.

For this basketball team, the 20-2 record and a county title banner mark the culmination of a season built on refusing to concede, a quality that showed itself most clearly in those opening four minutes of the fourth quarter against the Mustangs.