Stanton Falls to West Nassau on Senior Night
Fabrizio Gowdy | January 29, 2020 | Sports
The Stanton College Preparatory School Blue Devils varsity girls basketball team was defeated by the West Nassau High School Warriors 61-30 on an emotional senior night Tuesday.
“I’m glad everyone came out and supported us. I’m sorry we didn’t show what we can do, but I’m glad everyone had fun, and everyone put it all out on the floor,” said point guard Skylar Wildrick, one of five seniors honored at halftime.
The largest home crowd of the year turned out for a game full of senior night festivities that included an AirPod giveaway at the end of the third quarter.
“It’s the last home game I’ll get to play with my team and they’ve become like a family. I got to score the first two points and that meant alot to me,” said senior guard Alex Roche.
The Blue Devils got off to a sluggish start in the low-scoring first quarter, falling behind 9-0 in the opening five minutes. Roche and Wildrick each had a basket in the opening quarter, but the Blue Devils trailed 12-4 going into the second.
The Warriors took a 26-11 halftime lead, after an 8-0 West Nassau run near the end of the second quarter. Stanton struggled to get defensive rebounds on its end of the floor as West Nassau's two bigs, junior Ana O'Shields and 6' 2'' sophomore Emily Lee, provided the Warriors with a significant height advantage and gave the Blue Devils problems in the paint all night.
The Blue Devil offense continued to struggle as the second half began, with Stanton managing just two points in the first six minutes of the third quarter. Despite impressive defensive play by Wildrick and junior forward Giana Pierre-Louis, the Blue Devils trailed 39-24 at the end of the quarter.
Stanton gained some momentum early in the fourth, cutting the lead to 13 before an 18-1 West Nassau run iced the game. In the end, costly turnovers and an inability to finish on easy shots sunk Stanton's hopes for a late rally.
Stanton head Coach Jason Lonsdale pulled out his seniors one by one in the waning minutes. They were greeted by applause and an outpouring of support from the large home crowd as they left their home court one last time. One such senior, Connor Kuhn, sank a free throw in her final trip to the line at home as a Blue Devil before coming of the court to raucous cheers with 23 seconds left.
“There was a lot of pressure, so I was really glad it went in. It was pretty cool having a whole bunch of people there for senior night to support me,” said Kuhn, who had about a dozen family members in attendance. The recent death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant added to the emotional nature of the game, according to some players.
“Coach gave us talks during breaks about how Kobe always gave 110 percent. We’re all basketball players here, and we lost a fellow person in the field,” said senior guard Christa Assi*.
The Blue Devils lose their eleventh straight game and drop to 4-13, while the Warriors have won eight of their last nine games to get to 15-6 on the year. Stanton will go on the road wrap up its schedule with games at Englewood High School and at Terry Parker High School on Jan. 30 and Feb. 4 respectively.
*Christa Assi is a member of the Devil’s Advocate Staff