Caitlin Barrett hits game winner in final minute as Manhasset reaches Nassau Class A girls basketball final

There was never a question of who was going to take the pivotal shot for the Manhasset girls basketball team. That answer is always Caitlin Barrett.

Manhasset broke the huddle out of timeout trailing by one point with 1:09 left in the contest. Coach Lauren Sadeh drew up a pick and roll for Barrett and the senior guard made the eventual winning basket on a short jumper with 48.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Monday night as top-seeded Manhasset defeated No. 5 Bethpage, 41-39, in the Nassau Class A girls basketball semifinals at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex.

“She’s just that type of kid,” Sadeh said. “She’s that type of athlete. It’s nice to have the confidence to draw something like that up in a huddle and come out and execute it. She does so many things for us.”

“I think we executed it perfectly,” Barrett said. “It was super exciting. It’s definitely nerve-wracking but it’s definitely exciting.”

Manhasset (22-1) advances to play No.2 seed Lynbrook, which beat No. 6 seed Floral Park. 63-39, in the Nassau Class A final at Hofstra Saturday at noon.

Barrett, who had 19 points and six steals, gave Manhasset a 40-39 lead with her basket. She recorded a steal on the ensuing possession after Lauren Perfetto deflected a pass with 28 seconds left.

Bethpage (14-6) had to foul a few times before getting into the penalty and putting Manhasset on the foul line. Mia LoPinto was fouled with 2.1 seconds left and made the second foul shot for the game’s final point.

“I knew we had to be up by more than one,” LoPinto said. “I try to take everything out of my mind. We shoot foul shots every day at practice and I wanted to get back to our gym and think of it like that.”

Nicoletta Tsiamis forced a jump ball and Manhasset regained possession with 0.6 seconds left. Bethpage was unable to foul before the clock expired.

“That was probably one of the best moments of my life, I’m not going to lie,” LoPinto said. “No one on this team has been to counties so I think it’s a huge step for every one of us and just hearing that buzzer really made it real.”

LoPinto and Ali McIntyre each added eight points. Victoria Pfeffer had 22 points for Bethpage.

Manhasset looks to win its first county title since 1993 – and the first Class A title in program history – on Saturday.

“Every single person on that floor really stepped up in so many ways, whether it’s offensively or defensively,” LoPinto said. “Every single person is the reason we won this game.”