On this day nine years ago, the girls’ basketball team won the first Long Island Championship in program history with a 46-22 victory over Friends Academy. The Bears were led by Kristyn Dunleavy’s dominant post play where she registered 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks. She scored 15 of her 20 points in the first half to give the Brook a 25-12 lead. As if the victory was not sweet enough, Dunleavy surpassed the 1,500-point milestone during the win to cement her place as one of the best basketball players in Stony Brook history. Here is the recap of the game from Mitch Abramson of Newsday.

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Bears’ Defense Shuts Down Friends’ Shooters

The pyrotechnic display from behind the three-point line never took place. The Long Island Class C girls’ basketball championship was determined by the inside presence of Stony Brook senior Kristyn Dunleavy, who reached one team and one personal milestone yesterday.

Dunleavy surpassed 1,500 career points while helping the Bears capture their first L.I. title with a 46-22 win over Friends Academy at C.W. Post. Stony Brook (21-2) now plays the Blind Brook (Section I)-Millbrook (IX) winner in the Southeast Regional final at 4:30pm Saturday at SUNY-New Paltz.

After the game, Dunleavy (20 points) deflected attention away from her milestone and stressed her team’s defensive effort, which limited Friends (11-10) to two three-pointers, a paltry sum for a team that made 112 during the regular season. Stony Brook led Suffolk with 96 threes and hit six yesterday.

“We were really prepared for them,” Dunleavy said. “We watched film of their games and knew what their players could do, and we never let them get comfortable.”

Using a stifling man-to-man defense that was led by sophomore Brittany Bell’s four steals, the Quakers were hurried into taking bad shots and were reluctant to shoot from the outside. Sadie Singer (eight points), the daughter of Stony Brook coach Keith Singer, held Friends point guard Liz Handy to 11 points and Bell limited three-point specialist Julia Browne to no treys and three points.

“They were playing solid, body-up defense,” said coach John Forlines, who led Friends to its first L.I. title game appearance. “We wanted to take the ball to the basket more, but they wouldn’t let us.”

Although Stony Brook took 18 three-point shots to Friends’ nine, it was Dunleavy who put on a show with an assortment of low-post moves and aggressive defensive tactics. She had 15 rebounds and four blocks, and she registered 15 of her 20 points in the first half to help give Stony Brook a 25-12 lead.

Dunleavy scored her 1,500th on a layup with 2:13 left in the half. Her subdued reaction suggested she didn’t know she needed 12 points to reach it.

“I had an idea, but I forgot about it during the game,” she said. “What really mattered is that we played well as a team.”

Stony Brook senior Kaitlyn Siederman (12 points) knocked down two of her four threes in the third quarter to extend the lead to 37-14, and the Quakers could muster only two free throws by junior Morgan Taylor (six points) in the third.

“Coach kept telling us to concentrate on defense,” Bell said. “We never stopped trying to work hard to keep them from scoring.”

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