When it’s all said and done, Matt Brisson will go down as a coaching legend in Sachem. He’ll credit his teams, but winning big games and championships will be his legacy.
For the second time in four years his Sachem East girls basketball team has captured a Suffolk County Class AA title. The Arrows beat top-seeded North Babylon, 57-49, at Ward Melville High School on Tuesday night.
Sachem East (19-2) will play either Southampton or Harborfields in the Suffolk overall title game on Friday at Melville.
Katie Doherty had a game-high 24 points and eight assists to lead Sachem.
The Arrows led North Babylon (20-2) 12-5 after the first quarter, a much different start from their semifinal win over Whitman where they trailed after the first half.
Despite a 21-7 run by the Bulldogs in the second half to make it 47-41 with a little more than five minutes left in the game, East kept the game in check from the get-go.
Makeda Nicholas, who scored double-doubles in each of her last three games, was held to just 11 points in the contest for North Babylon.
Emily Carmel had 15 points and Kathleen Everson had 12 points for Sachem. Both have been models of consistency for the Arrows.
Sachem East last won a girls basketball county title in 2010, the same year they won an island and state title.
Sachem East
- Katie Doherty: 24 points
- Emily Carmel: 15 points
- Kathleen Everson: 12 points
- Allie Drake: 7 points
North Babylon
- Brianna Jones: 15 points
- Makeda Nicholas: 11 points
- Brittany Hicks: 9 points
- Katie Zambrotta: 5 points
- Kennethah Harden: 4 points
- Jalen Powell: 3 points
- Whitney Brewster: 2 points
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro