Lady Whalers Succumb To Southold In Class C Final

Playing for the Suffolk County Class C title and squaring off against a Southold squad that had handled them twice before in the regular season, the Pierson girls basketball team knew the odds were long, even more so with some key players absent from the lineup. While inexperienced and undermanned, the Lady Whalers still weren’t interested in simply handing over the trophy.

Pierson battled for 32 minutes, but Southold, the top seed in Class C draw, flexed its muscles down the stretch, pulling away from the upset-minded Lady Whalers to win, 46-19, on Monday, February 20.

“I’m proud of my kids, the ones that were here,” Pierson head coach Dennis Case said. “They played their hearts out and they have every game this year. This is the toughest team I’ve ever had.”

Pierson (8-11) played Monday’s game without four players who went on vacation over the February break, many of whom were vital to the Lady Whalers’ Class C semifinal win over Port Jefferson on February 17.

As disappointed as he was with their absence, Case expressed his disgust with how the tournament itself is scheduled. No matter how the Lady Settlers fare in the Suffolk County tournament, the Long Island championship, on which hinges a trip to states, doesn’t take place until Wednesday, March 7, more than two weeks from when Southold took the Suffolk crown.

“It’s doesn’t make any sense,” Case said. “On a good day, we can beat Southold, but we have to have everybody here.”

Pierson was left to duel with just seven players on their rosters, including two—sophomores Lily Kunzeman and Ashley Nill—who were pulled up from junior varsity and hadn’t logged a varsity minute all season. Nevertheless, Pierson was within striking distance after back-to-back baskets from Bridget Canavan and Rachel Saidman cut the Southold lead to 12 at 27-15 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

However, but as they did most of the night, the Lady Settlers—who went undefeated in League VIII—had an answer. Seconds after Saidman’s 12-foot bank shot, Southold (14-5) took off an 11-0 run, all but knocking out Pierson.

Case insists it was a byproduct of playing with a short bench. His players were tired.

“The kids played their butts off,” he said. “They played great defense in the first half, they worked hard, but I think we just ran out of gas.”

Pierson’s MarieCarmen Chavez and Sydnee McKie-Senior were tenacious on the defensive end, and Case also turned to Nill, Kunzeman and Julia Schiavoni for minutes in bulk. Nill, one of those promoted from JV, even chipped in with a bucket.

Canavan finished with a team-high nine points, while Saidman added eight. Southold’s victory marked the end of Stony Brook’s six-year run in Class C; the Lady Bears had won every title since Southold’s previous championship in 2005.