Ashley Sadowski's putback at buzzer wins it for Plainedge
Plainedge celebrates its last minute 48-46 win over Bethpage after a Nassau Conference A-IV girls basketball game in Bethpage on Friday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Plainedge girls basketball team had found itself in this position before.
But this time, Ashley Sadowski knew exactly what to do.
With 3.9 seconds left on the clock to start the final play, Julia Foppiano — helped by a screen set by Sadowski — caught an inbounds pass in the right corner, took two dribbles and put up a jumper that hit the rim and went straight down. Sadowski grabbed the offensive rebound under the net, gave herself an angle and sank a putback at the buzzer to give Plainedge a 48-46 victory over Bethpage in a Nassau A-IV matchup on Friday night.
“I knew we had more than enough time on the clock to get a rebound if Julia’s shot missed,” Sadowski said. “That’s how [Bethpage] beat us last time, and I knew we had the chance to win by rebounding this time.”
“I knew that I had to get a shot in with three seconds left and even if it missed, I could trust Ashley to be there,” said Foppiano, who scored 22 points. “She’s always working on her box-outs, so she was right where she needed to be to put the ball in the basket."
Earlier in the season, Bethpage (9-3, 5-2) defeated Plainedge, 43-40, when Kate Cusack scored off an offensive rebound with 24 seconds left.
“We knew this was going to be a tough match for us,” Plainedge coach Sarah Tansey said. “We’re undersized and often [overmatched], but we talk a lot about effort over everything. We just kept plugging away and controlling what we could control. We knew rebounding was going to help us win and it did just that.”
“What kept us in the game was limiting their offensive rebounds and gaining rebounds on our side, whether it be offensive or defensive," Sadowski said.
Plainedge (12-5, 7-1) trailed by five entering the second half. Victoria Pfeffer, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds, repeatedly converted her defensive rebounds into points by taking the ball the length of the court.
“They have great inside players and [Pfeffer] was killing us on the boards in the first half,” Tansey said. “We switched to box-and-one [defense] to try to contain her as much as we could and get extra assistance down the court to help with our rebounds.”
Three-pointers by Foppiano, Katelyn Tierney and Kiera Reed in the fourth quarter gave Plainedge a one-point lead.
Pfeffer's final layup tied the score with a minute left, but for Bethpage, Sadowski was in the right place at the right time.
“At the end of the day,” she said, “that’s the only play that really mattered.”
