Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK girls basketball's Emma Heaney leads comeback win over Garden City

When Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK senior Emma Heaney finds her groove, it's hard to stop her.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK defeated Garden City, 45-32, in comeback fashion on Saturday afternoon in the first game of the second annual Anthony Bolden Classic at Baldwin, and it was Heaney who helped the Hawks erase a 10-point deficit.

Senior Emily Brake started it off strong for the Hawks. Her seven points in the first quarter put them up 12-11. But that lead wouldn’t last very long. Garden City took full advantage of any mistakes the Hawks made in the second quarter and finished the half ahead by 10.

“We started off kind of flat defensively,” Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK coach Nick Tomasulo said. “We were missing assignments, not boxing out, not doing those little things and just giving up points.”

Heaney said it was the team’s talk during halftime that flipped the switch.

“The coaches left, and we just took some time to talk amongst ourselves and figure out what we needed to fix,” Heaney said. “It all came down to effort; we all wanted to leave here with a win, but we needed to start playing together as a team.”

Heaney led that effort. By the end of the third, the Hawks had closed the gap to make it just a five-point game. Then, Heaney lit up.

“I knew I had to lock in and shut out the noise,” Heaney said. “I had to pick it up and get back to playing me.”

Out of her 17 points, 10 of them came in the final quarter, and they were critical.

“For her, it’s all about confidence,” Tomasulo said. “When Emma heats up, it’s very, very hard to stop her.”

But it would take more than offense to secure the win. The Hawks shut out Garden City for the entirety of the fourth quarter.

“Defense is what wins games,” Heaney said. “Once we started playing tougher on defense, everything started to fall into place.”

With just four minutes left in the game, a blocked shot and a layup from Heaney brought the Hawks back in the lead. They went on to score eight more points to secure the victory.

Brake finished with 10 points and Rachel Ganz had seven points and seven steals. Kaitlyn Santopietro had 11 points for Garden City (0-2).

But it was more than just a basketball game. The tournament honors the late Baldwin coach Bolden, who passed away in Sept. of 2021 from complications with pulmonary fibrosis and raises money for the Anthony Bolden scholarship.

“Anthony was an amazing person. I always looked forward to seeing him,” Tomasulo said. “When I was asked to be a part of this and help honor him and everything he accomplished, I was really touched.”

“It really means a lot to us to be here and get to do something we love for a good cause,” Heaney said. “It’s really special.”