On this day 10 years ago, the girls’ basketball team won their third straight County Championship in a 37-23 victory over Port Jeff. Here is the recap from The Village Times.

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Stony Brook Beats Port Jefferson, Wins Suffolk

The Stony Brook School and Port Jefferson squared off in the Suffolk Class C finals on Feb. 15 at Center Moriches gymnasium. Although many of the names and faces are different for Stony Brook this year, the result was the same as the Bears prevailed, 37-23, to win its third straight championship title.

“It was a great feeling,” said Stony Brook School coach Keith Singer. “For a lot of our players, this was the first time competing in a championship game. We only have one starter back from last year’s team [sophomore Sadie Singer], and I was very pleased with how the entire group responded.”

Stony Brook and Port Jefferson split their two previous meetings this season with the Bears winning the first matchup (61-11) and the Royals bouncing back with a 35-26 victory in the next meeting.

“In both of the previous matchups, one team or the other was missing players, or had injured players competing at less than 100 percent,” Singer said. “This game, however, brought out the best in both teams. It was an extremely hard-fought contest, and we were finally able to create some separation late in the third quarter on a couple of key plays by Danielle [Spiliotis] and Sadie.”

Spiliotis, a junior All-Conference selection from Port Jefferson, led all players with a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds and five blocks. She finished the game with 998 career points and is only one basket shy of the 1,000 point milestone for her career. Singer, a starter for both the previous championship teams, added seven points and seven assists and committed only one turnover during the contest.

Three baskets by Spiliotis late in the third quarter, along with an assist on a traditional trey play by junior Jenae Ward to start the fourth helped Stony Brook forge a 26-14 lead. Despite an outstanding game by senior Megan Mackenzie, who scored five of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter, Port Jefferson was never able to cut the deficit to less than 10 during the remainder of the game.

In athletics, it is often stated that defense wins championships. This game certainly fit that description. Stony Brook, second in Suffolk County in team defense, has only given up an average of 32.5 points per game during the season.

“Our girls take great pride in their defense,” Singer said. “Today, I thought the overall effort was exceptional. Ward and [Allegra] Istrati both did an amazing job slowing down some of Port Jefferson’s major threats. We knew it would be a low-scoring game because Port Jefferson does an excellent job with their zone and is very tough to score on. But, when you can hold a team to 23 points, you are going to win a lot of games.”

“Coach Singer maximizes the talent on his team and is constantly working to put his players in a role where they can be successful,” said Brad Baker, athletic director at the Stony Brook School. “A great coach, a talented group of athletes, and a special team chemistry have been the key elements behind Stony Brook’s third consecutive Suffolk County Class C Championship.”

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