North Shore inches closer to conference title

Senior Emma Priolo has drained a boatload of 3-pointers during her storied North Shore career that dates to eighth grade. 

But none was bigger than her “And-1’’ last Friday night against conference rival Seaford. With 2:30 left and trailing by 3, Priolo buried a deep right-wing 3-pointer, got fouled and sank the free throw for a 4-point play.

 It gave North Shore the lead it never relinquished and all but clinched its third straight conference crown with a 48-45 victory. After closing on a 15-2 run before a meaningless Seaford shot at the buzzer, North Shore moved to 8-0 in Conference A2 and gave Seaford its second loss. 

Priolo, a 3-point machine, finished with 15 points, making 5 of 11 3’s. Her 4-point game-buster came on a shot about 6 feet behind the arc. The Vikings had trailed Seaford by 7 points with 7:11 left.

“It was a huge moment for the entire team,’’ Priolo said. “It boosted our confidence. We’re a second-half team and I feel it was a big impact and got us pumped to finish out a conference game with a win.’’

North Shore head coach Keith Freund wasn’t surprised. “In close games, we make plays in the fourth quarter over and over again,’’ he said. “ She was hot and they stayed in the zone the entire times, collapsing on our forwards down low.’’

Priolo is closing in on becoming the second-most prolific 3-point shooter in program history. She estimates most of her bombs are launched from at least 23 feet.

After hitting two 3-pointers in Monday’s 51-35 non-league victory over Locust Valley, Priolo stands at 181 career 3’s. She started amassing the treys in 8^thgrade when she connected on 15. She has 49 on the season, tops on Long Island. 

“She practices - there’s no secret,” Freund said. “She’s always working on her range and to get off her shot quickly.  It’s putting in the hours - extra time before practice and after.’’

The all-time leader in 3-point makes at the Sea Cliff/Glen head school is Gabriel Zaffiro, whom Priolo won’t catch. But second-best is fine. Priolo said in the offseason she worked on shooting off picks while in motion and practicing a faster release. 

“With me shooting, it gives the team more motivation to put shots up,’’ Priolo said. “We’ve been feeding the post a lot and I’m getting a lot of kickouts – which is great.’’

Priolo, averaging 13 points, recently decided she wants to play in college and made a highlight tape. New Paltz, Cortland, Scarnton and Roger Williams are on her short list. 

 The Maroon isn’t all Priolo. The Vikings are a dynamic team getting contributions everywhere. On Monday, the two stars happened to be Sofia Della Ratta (15 points) and Meredith Papiro, who had 9 points and stopped Locust Valley’s premier offensive player with stifling defense. 

Hannah Gilliam, Keirra Pombar and Hailey Ayres, all captains along with Priolo,  have all been mainstays. 

North Shore (13-3 overall) has just four games left before playoffs: Malverne, Lawrence, Island Trees and Friends Academy. Seaford has two losses so North Shore would have to lose three of its last four to potentially lose the conference crown. 

“I love our parity of our players and it’s not one person,’’ Freund said. “But I want to see us play a complete game. We’ve played complete quarters and halves. We haven’t played a complete game. We’re capable of so much more.’’

The Vikings are already peeking ahead to Feb. 21’s playoffs.

“I would say this year Class A is wide open,’’’ Freund said. “There’s really no great teams but really good teams in the playoffs. There will be some favorites. It’s going to come down to who’s playing well and style of play. We haven’t really been clicking yet. If we start to click, we’ll be in the mix.’’