All hail the champs!

In what was described as one of the most thrilling high school girls basketball games in recent memory, the Massapequa High School girls varsity basketball team won their second consecutive Long Island Class AA title game last Friday night, defeating Northport, 67-65.

This evening, the Lady Chiefs will play in Hudson Valley against Rush-Henrietta in a semifinal game for the New York state crown.

During their regular season run towards the Long Island title, Massapequa had averaged an amazing 72 points per game. In winning the Nassau County Class AA title game against Elmont, the Lady Chiefs had to mount a fourth quarter come-from-behind victory over top-ranked Elmont.

If anything, the Long Island title game was even more exciting. Massapequa survived a second half comeback by a gritty Northport squad to win the game. Indeed, Massapequa made a comeback of its own to take the Long Island championship.

Down 65-64 with only seconds remaining, Gina Giambanco scored the game-winning bucket on an offensive rebound. Ms. Giambanco was fouled on the play and her free throw gave Massapequa a two-point lead that survived one last Northport offensive possession.

The game saw 11 ties and eight lead changes. The final minutes of the fourth quarter saw furious action from both sides. In the final 4:20 minutes of the game, Northport tied the score on a three-pointer by Kera Schiavetta. Massapequa got a three-pointer of its own by Janine Aldridge to take the lead back. On it went, as Schiavetta scored another three-pointer to put Northport within one point of Massapequa. That shot gave Northport some momentum as they gained the lead and went on to a 65-62 lead with only 1:32 left in the game.

However, Massapequa which had won an amazing 18 straight games going into the championship contest, got a key bucket by Suzi Fregosi, a solid team defensive effort and then the game-winning basket by Gina Giambanco to win the game. The Giambanco basket itself came on the rebound of another offensive rebound by Nicole Michel.

The game, which was played at Longwood High School, left the nearly 2,000 fans as emotionally drained as the players themselves.

Although she fouled out with only a minute remaining, Ashley Caiafa was Massapequa's leading scorer with 18 points. Even more impressive was her performance on the boards. Ms. Caifa registered a team-record 25 rebounds, including 16 in the first half alone.