On this day 11 years ago, the girls’ basketball team turned back Shelter Island, 55-43. Here is the recap of the game from Brett Mauser of Hamptons.com.

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SI Indians Unable to Break Away from Stony Brook Bears’ Reach

No matter what the Shelter Island girls’ basketball team threw at Stony Brook, the Bears had a more effective, and least complex reflex – give the ball to Danielle Spiliotis and get out of the way.

Despite having double and triple teams prepared to defend it, Stony Brook ran the best play in its book to perfection. Spiliotis poured in a career-high 35 points and added 12 rebounds to hand the Indians a 55-43 loss in a League VIII clash.

Shelter Island Head Coach Rick Osmer will look into a defensive strategy for when the Bears travel east for their Feb. 7 rematch. “We have to find a way to stop [Spiliotis] in order to beat them,” he said. “She basically beat us single-handedly.”

Her ability to blow up on cue killed the Indians (2-10, 1-3) in the decisive third quarter. SI had trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to five on a Kaitie McGayhey jumper with 4:47 to go in the period. Spiliotis then keyed a 14-2 spurt that put Stony Brook up by 17 through three.

The Indians didn’t quit, yet they were only able to trade with Stony Brook most of the game. McGayhey’s three-point play with 3:13 left in the game put SI behind by just 12, but Sadie Singer did the same on the other end, all but dousing the Indians’ upset hopes.

“I was happy about the way we didn’t quit,” Osmer said. “At one point, I think we could have rolled over and got beaten by more than what we did.”

The game was tied at 9-9 through one quarter, and Shelter Island clung to a 14-13 lead with three minutes left in the first half. Stony Brook, which has won the last two Suffolk County Class C crowns, brought the home crowd to its feet with a 13-2 run to close out the half. The Bears’ Jessica Winston buried her only field goal of the game – a three-pointer from the right corner – with two seconds left to put the Bears ahead 26-16 at the halfway point. Every time SI crept close, Stony Brook had the answer. It was the same answer every time.

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The Bears went on to win a fourth consecutive League Championship in a string that reached seven in 2011. That season they also won a third straight County Championship of an eventual six.

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