Adrine Demirciyan can do everything on the court. She can shoot, drive, pass, rebound and create havoc on the defensive side. But there’s one thing she — and many that have come before her — hasn’t been able to accomplish in three decades.
Win a county championship game.
You can now add that to her list of on-court abilities. Top-seeded Greenport/Southold defeated No. 2 Center Moriches, 40-31, in the girls basketball Suffolk Class B final at Newfield High School Saturday.
Greenport was the Class D champions in 2003, according to Newsday records. But coach Chris Golden said he believes this is their first outright championship game victory in more than 30 years, with Newsday records showing Greenport/Southold winning the Suffolk Class C title in 1989.
“It makes it so much more special,” Demirciyan said. “Now we get a banner with our year on the wall and I can always come back to the school and say ‘My team did that.’ To be the first team in like 30 years at Greenport to win and to do it as a team, it means everything. We made our mark on the school for sure.”
Greenport/Southold (15-3) plays Port Jefferson (16-2) in the Suffolk BCD championship at Newfield High School Saturday at 12 p.m. The Porters will play the Nassau Class B champion in the Long Island Class B championship in a state subregional March 9.
“It’s not every day that Greenport sports wins something,” said Brienna McFarland, who added five points. “And we really deserved it.”
Demirciyan led the Porters with 16 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
“My mind was clear,” she said. “I just had faith in my teammates and myself and my ability. I knew one way or another we were going to get it done. We were the better team going into it and clearly, the scoreboard shows that tonight.”
Greenport/Southold took an 18-14 advantage into halftime and opened a 25-18 lead after the third quarter. Center Moriches (16-6) closed the gap to 33-27 with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter but Hayley Skrezec hit a key jumper and Demirciyan made 5 of 6 foul shots in the final 37 seconds.
“The reason we won this championship is because we all know how each other plays,” Demirciyan said. “We all understand each other and when one’s feeling down, we bring each other up no matter what. We just got it done tonight.”
Lilly Corwin added eight points and Amelia Woods had six points for the Porters.
Golden said he knew he had a special team entering the season and the players were determined to make history.
“When we started the season, this was the goal — this game,” Golden said. “It all built to this.”
