Smithtown West girl’s basketball takes down Centereach 50-40
By Bill Landon
The road to the Suffolk Class AA girls basketball championship went through Walt Whitman High School, pitting the Bulls of Smithtown West (No. 2) against the Centereach Cougars (No. 6) in the semifinal round on March 4.
Centereach broke out early with a dominant performance out-scoring the Bulls by 14 points in the first eight minutes of play. Smithtown West would regain their footing in the second quarter with a scoring frenzy of their own, to make it a new game at the halftime break tied at 25-25.
Still only a two-point game to open the fourth quarter, Smithtown West stretched their legs led by Kate Braun, a senior, and Catherine Piccininni, the junior notching 20 points apiece, to slam the door on the Cougars and winning the game 50-40.
Delaney Walters, an eighth grader, topped the scoring charts for the Cougars with 14 points; sophomore Leah Norman added 11 and Hayley Torres, a junior, netted nine.
Centereach concludes their 2024-2025 campaign with an impressive 17-4 season.
In victory Smithtown West advances to the Class AA championship final where they’ll face Westhampton Sunday, March 9 at Farmingdale State College. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at: https://gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAAXI
— Photos by Bill Landon
