The Wantagh High School girls’ basketball team claimed its title as Long Island championships for the first time in program history.
The Warriors defeated Mt. Saini High School 54-30 on Saturday, March 15, at SUNY Farmingdale to win the regional title.
But how did the team get there? Wantagh went 5-15 during the 2022-23 season. The program turned things around in the following season, winning 18 games but falling in the Nassau Class A championship game to Cold Spring Harbor High School.
Stan Bujacich has coached the school’s girls’ basketball program for 32 years. He called the rematch against Cold Spring Harbor “a huge win for the team.
Wantagh went 18-2 during the regular season, giving them the second-best record in the Conference behind Lynbrook High School, the only team that beat the Warriors during the regular season. The Warriors lost to Lynbrook 58-37 in December and then again 57-53 in late January. The two teams met in the County Class A Championship game, which Wantagh won 44-43. The Warriors took the lead with 7.7 seconds left and held onto claim the county title.
The team then defeated Mt. Saini for the Long Island Championship five days later.
The Warriors played at Hudson Valley Community College on Friday, March 21, for the NYSPHSAA semifinals. Wantagh beat Albany Academy 58-51 to set up a matchup with Ardsley one day later. But the Warriors were not crowned the best team in the state as they fell 39-28 in the championship game.
Bujacich said Wantagh has a well-rounded starting lineup that has pushed them toward success. The team was led offensively by sophomore Kayla Mannix, whose 15.3 points per game were 13th-most in the county. She led Wantagh with 18 points in the team’s win over Mt. Saini.
Freshman Isabella Ferraro was the second-highest scorer in the Warriors’ Long Island title game, converting four three-point attempts and scoring 13 points.
Juliana Cerasi has been with the team since the COVID-19 pandemic and Bujacich called her a leader on the court. The senior averaged eight points per game during the year and scored that amount against Mt. Saini. Senior Riley Forthofer and second-year starter Sabrina Asadurian round out the team’s starting five that pushed them toward glory.
And although Bujacich has coached at the school for over three decades, he said that accomplishments of this team stand out.
“This has to be the best because we’ve gone the longest,” he said. “This team is probably one of the most competitive, hate-to-lose type of teams you will have.”
The Warriors’ season provided them with a county championship for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
The team posted on its Instagram account to thank its fans after losing in the state championship game. The post’s caption included “Bring it all home next year.”
