With Floral Park set to ice Wednesday's Class A girls basketball quarterfinal game against Seaford from the free throw line in the final seconds, Viking head coach Bob Vachris took out his starters to give them one last ovation before their historic 2012/13 season came to a close.
The 39-32 quarterfinal loss at Floral Park left the Lady Vikings three wins shy of a county title but the 2012/13 campaign will still go down in the Seaford High School athletic record-books. Seaford (15-4 overall) achieved it's first undefeated league season and their second Conference A-IV regular season title in three years. The fifth-seeded Vikings had advanced to Wednesday's quatertefinal round with a 61-49 first round home win against Glen Cove this past Saturday.
"Captain Megan Russell and fellow seniors Shannon Spurrell, Lindsay Montemarano, Toni Ann Medaglia, Brianna Marzo and Emily Palermo provided the leadership and experience needed to accomplish a groundbreaking season," said Coach Vachris.
For the first time in program history, Seaford had three players earn All-County honors including junior Jessica Rini, Russell and sophomore Kathryn Siler. Rini was also voted Conference Player of the year, the first for the Seafor girls basketball program since Stephanie Meyer in 2011.
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Rini and Siler did their best to try and lead Seaford past fourth-seeded Floral Park by leading the Viking scoring with 11 points apiece. Siler was on fire from the permitter early on with three three-pointers giving Seaford a 12-5 first quarter lead before Floral Park responded with a 16-4 run.
With the score tied 21-21 at halftime, Floral Park seized control of the game in the third quarter by outscoring Seaford 9-3. A Montemarano steal and layup cut deficit to 34-32 midway through fourth quarter before the Knights scored the game's final five points to punch a semifinal ticket against top-seeded North Shore this Tuesday.
Seaford graduates six seniors but will return a half dozen juniors next season in Rini, Desire Fowlkes, Karly Brandimarte, Shannon Digney, Deanna Schneider and Victoria Prodan, who will look to make some more Viking basketball history.
