Babylon girls basketball overjoyed after capturing first Suffolk Class B title

Gia Randazzo couldn’t contain her emotions any longer.

As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard, the Babylon senior started crying tears of joy. It was a moment she's been waiting to experience. 

Top-seeded Babylon defeated No. 2 Mattituck, 57-22, in the girls basketball Suffolk Class B final at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue on Sunday for the Panthers’ first county title in program history.

“I’ve been on this team for four years and each year we’ve gotten closer and closer and to win it my final year is the best feeling in the world,” Randazzo said. “It was all through determination.”

Babylon had a chance at history last year against Mattituck in the county final, but it couldn’t make up for a poor second quarter in that loss. That feeling never left the Panthers.

“Last year in the locker room, I remember everyone’s faces crying and saying, ‘We don’t want to feel this way again,’ ” junior Peyton Logue-Boyd said. “And I knew when we walked into the gym today we weren’t going to feel that way again. I knew it from the second we stepped in.”

Logue-Boyd had 18 points and six rebounds. Randazzo added 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. Morgan Fiedler, an eighth-grader, had 16 points and five assists.

Babylon (19-2) advances to play the winner of Friday's Carle Place/Cold Spring Harbor at 8 p.m. on March 12 at Farmingdale State College in the Long Island Class B championship/Southeast Regional Final. Mattituck finished at 13-9.

Babylon coach Chris Ryan said he knew before the season this was a special group capable of making program history with Randazzo as a main reason.

“To finally achieve that goal is something that was huge for her and us as a program,” Ryan said. “I could see it all over her [face]. We talk about, ‘Don’t hope to win, play determined to win,’ and I think that carried over today. They were determined to win.”

Riley Altman added three rebounds, three assists and four steals and DeLaney Busch had three steals in the win.

As opposed to last year’s dreadful second quarter, Babylon used a 15-4 second period to open a 27-10 lead at halftime on Sunday. Babylon extended its lead to 40-18 entering the fourth quarter.

“Last year we were leading [early] and we thought we had it, but they came out and took it from us,” Logue-Boyd said. “And I know how I felt in that locker room last year and that’s not how we feel this year.”

Fiedler was moved up to varsity for the playoffs last year but didn’t play. She remembers Ryan telling her she’d be an important part of the following year’s success though.

“Mr. Ryan has told me since the start of the season that I have the green light, he has all the faith in me,” Fiedler said. “The rest of the team also, and I think that helped me channel my energy into this game.”

Randazzo never forgot the feeling of last year’s county championship loss and was determined to graduate as a champion. She teared up again when finally being handed the championship plaque.

“We never wanted to feel the pain we felt last year and we really deserved this win,” Randazzo said. “It feels amazing.”