It was the type of play seniors on a mission find a way to make.
Goldstein and stars Brittany McDonough and Nora Elbassiony saw their team’s 21-point first quarter lead cut to two just two midway through the fourth period. Elbassiony stepped to the line and made the first of two free throws. She missed the second, but raced down the rebound to the right of the lane.
“We just wanted it,” she said. … “We didn’t want to drop that lead and stay ahead the whole game.”
Elbassiony controlled the ball and fired it across the court to the Chestnut Hill-bound McDonough, who calmly buried a 3-pointer from the left side to complete a four-swing that Lab Museum never recovered from.
Top-seeded Leon Goldstein held on for a 68-59 victory over the fourth-seeded Gators in the PSAL Class A girls basketball semifinals 3 p.m. at Hunter College on Sunday. It is the third championship game in four years for the seniors, who went to the Class B final as freshmen and won as sophomores.
“Whoever wants this more is going to win it,” McDonough said. “And we want this.”
The Dolphins (23-2) have played with a chip on their shoulders since the beginning of the postseason. Some people felt they were undeserving of the tournament’s top seed compared to defending champion Wings and Staten Island power Curtis based on the strength of their non-league schedule.
“Our coach didn’t want us to get hurt,” Elbassiony said. “So we just worked harder at practice as if we were playing a scrimmage”.
McDonough turned in a typical complete performance, dropping in 21 points, dishing out six assists, grabbing four rebounds and blocking four shots. Elbassiony tallied 10 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter and Danielle Natoli and Danielle Bonsignore each added eight points. Marshall-bound guard Jenny Ramirez scored 16 points and Lisbet Lorenzo tallied 12 of her 16 in the fourth quarter for Lab Museum (22-5). Forward Ashanti Plummer added 12 points.
“She doesn’t get the ink, but this Natoli takes over games,” Goldstein coach Adrian Buchhalter said.
Goldstein opened the game on a ridiculous 21-0 run capped by a McDonough trey. Lab Museumm, making its first Class A final four, turned the Dolphins over on the press and ended the half on a 10-2 run to pull within 32-21 at the break. The surge continued into the third and Ramirez threw herself in the passing lanes, collected steals and began feeding Plummer.
The lead was 45-39 after three and just 51-49 with 4:42 remaining in the game before the Goldstein seniors brought the comeback to a halt.
“That wasn’t a deficit we couldn’t race back and win the game,” Gators coach Katie Junger said. “One of the biggest things was this court was huge and we don’t play on court sizes like this.”
The Dolphins were driving all year to put themselves back on this stage with a title on the line. The seniors, who know a thing or two about winning championships, made sure they got there.
“This has been our goal all year,” Elbassiony said. “We want to go to Albany.”