By Bill Landon
The Panthers of Miller Place (No. 4) seed hosted Sayville (No.5) seed in the Suffolk Class A quarterfinal round Feb. 25 having played each other twice during the regular season. Miller Place edged the Golden Flashes in the December matchup and Sayville returned the favor by defeating the Panthers, Feb. 1.
The Panthers got off to a slow start trailing Sayville by 7 points at the halftime break but found their rhythm in the third quarter, tying the game in the final seconds to make it a new game at 43 all, to open the final 8 minutes of play.
Deadlocked at 55-55, with 15 seconds left in regulation, Miller Place senior Matthew Cirrito went to the free throw line, shooting two missing the front end but nailed the back end and the Panthers held on to the one-point lead as time expired.
Senior co-captain Nick Frusco topped the scoring charts for the Panthers with 22 points and teammate Mike Biondi netted 13.
The win propels the Panthers to the semifinal round where they will face top seeded Southampton Wednesday March 5 at Longwood High School. Tickets can be purchased at: https://gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAAXI. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m.
– Photos by Bill Landon
