Whitman's Kallie Eichner hits late three-pointer to help seal Wildcats' first Long Island girls basketball title

The Whitman girls basketball team keeps reaching new heights.

A year after winning their first county title, the Wildcats are Long Island champions.

Kallie Eichner hit a three-pointer with 2:35 left to give Whitman a seven-point lead in its 38-29 win over Syosset in the Long Island Class AAA championship/Southeast Regional final on Sunday at Farmingdale State.

“Kallie has been a big part of the process of getting to this point, but she’s always been a bit unsung,” Whitman coach Dan Trebour said. “She plays good defense, she makes good decisions. I’m so happy for her to make that big shot.”

Said Eichner, “At first, I wasn’t going to take it, but I stayed calm and knew it was going in when it came off my fingers.”

After winning its first Long Island title, Whitman will face Our Lady of Lourdes (Section IX) in the state semifinals on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. at Hudson Valley Community College.

On Whitman’s next possession after Eichner’s three-pointer, the senior guard had her pass stolen, but she hustled back on defense and collected a steal of her own. The forced turnover led to Iris Hoffman drawing a foul and making one of two free throws to extend Whitman’s lead to eight with 1:15 left.

Whitman’s Kathleen O’Mara forced another steal with 20 seconds left and made a free throw for the final point.

Hoffman was her usual self, making plays on both ends of the floor and facilitating Whitman’s balanced offense. She made three three-pointers to help the Wildcats take a 24-14 halftime lead.

“We’ve had this coming,” Hoffman said. “We’ve won league championships and made deep runs in the playoffs. We were just finally able to break through. I heard our fans going absolutely crazy. It was awesome. I’ll never forget it.”

Whitman had a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but Syosset opened the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to four.

Hoffman scored 10 points, Eichner and O’Mara each had eight and Brianna Verga added seven for Whitman (21-3).

Carly Greenbaum scored 14 points and Samantha Schneider had eight for Syosset (18-6). Syosset won its first county title since 2009 on March 2, ending Baldwin’s run of nine straight championships.

“All the film we watched on Syosset . . . any time they were down, they would not go away. It’s good to be able to finish against a team like that,” Trebour said.

“People said, ‘Oh, Baldwin’s not in it.’ That worried me about Syosset, the fact that they were capable of beating a perennial power like that. It wasn’t an accident. That’s a very good team and they’re well-coached.”