With TV cameras rolling, Andy Athanas let out the frustration that must have been building all season long.
The longtime girls basketball coach used the spotlight after his team’s impressive Long Island Class A championship win to deliver a statement every bit as loud as the final score.
“Allison is the best player on Long Island,” Athanas said. “I don’t know why she gets ignored, but she is the best player on Long Island and you witnessed it tonight.”
That’s 6-foot-2 senior , Glenn’s anchor. McKenna scored 30 points and pulled down 23 rebounds as Glenn held off swarming Nassau champ North Shore, 76-65, Friday night at Farmingdale State’s Nold Hall.
"This was our goal from the beginning of the season," said McKenna, who also brought home a in the fall.
This was the fourth trip to the Long Island title game for Glenn (21-1), making runs to 2005, ’06 and last season. The Knights , 47-45, to title.
Glenn advances to the state Public Schools Final Four in Troy March 16 at 1:30 p.m. It's the program's first LIC since 2006.
Standing in the way was North Shore, which dressed 17 players. North Shore (20-2) made 11 substitutions in the first 2:15 and had eight different players score by halftime. North Shore pressed end-to-end and swarmed to the ball.
“That press gave us a lot of trouble in the beginning,” said Glenn sophomore guard Mackenzie Sivilli, who finished with 16 points.
But all the depth and subbing did nothing to slow Glenn.
North Shore, which knocked off defending Long Island champ Garden City, 74-64, to claim its first Nassau title, led 20-14 early in the second quarter on Nicole Scuderi’s three-pointer.
But the Knights went on a 9-0 run to climb back in the game. Sivilli scored twice inside the final minute to send the Knights into halftime up 31-29. Glenn never trailed again.
Knights guard Meaghan Haber added 13 points and 7 assists.
“We wanted to get back to this game to prove we could win,” Sivilli said.
North Shore senior Amanda Johansen scored 18 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter. It was a frenetic effort.
Glenn won because it was able to get to the foul line and convert down the stretch. McKenna alone was 8-for-10 from the line in the fourth.
“Tremendous ball player,” North Shore Coach Keith Freund of McKenna. “We have no one within four inches of her.”
Long Island Class A Championship
@ Farmingdale State’s Nold Hall
Teams......................1.....2.....3.....4 – F
North Shore............17...12...14...22 – 65
Glenn......................12...19...21...24 – 76
G: Haber 5-1-13, Klis 3-0-7, McKenna 10-10-30, Miller 1-0-2, Mackenzie Sivilli 5-6-16, Mohammed 1-4-6, Monica Sivilli 1-0-2. Totals: 26-21-76. NS: A. Johansen 8-5-21, Capobianco 2-0-4, Robertson 4-0-10, Lincoln 1-0-3, Castiglione 1-1-3, E. Sheerin 2-7-11, Cantwell 2-3-7, Scuderi 1-0-3, Beiser 1-0-3. Totals: 22-16-65. Three-pointers – G: 3 (Haber 2, Klis); NS: 5 (Robertson 2, Lincoln, Scuderi, Beiser).
