East Islip girls basketball's Pia Smaldone, an eighth-grader, scores 16 points in overtime win over Deer Park
Pia Smaldone of East Islip pulls up in the lane in the second quarter of a Suffolk League III matchup against Deer Park on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 in Islip Terrace. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
In a game in which both teams were fighting to break even in Suffolk III, East Islip and Deer Park did not disappoint.
Eighth-grader Pia Smaldone had 16 points on Thursday as host East Islip won an overtime thriller, 53-49.
East Islip brought a 33-22 lead into the fourth quarter, but Deer Park responded with 22 points. A technical foul shot by Jenna Delargy put Deer Park up by two before East Islip’s Cailyn Talt hit a step-back jumper with less than five seconds remaining to tie the score at 44.
“I’m not a jump shot shooter,” said Talt, who had 11 points. “I love to get in the paint, my teammates know that’s where I play my best, but I decided to take the risk. It was the play I had to make. When I saw the ball go in, the screams and joy from my team made it worth it.”
Smaldone hit the final basket in overtime to help lift East Islip to 4-4 and drop Deer Park to 3-5 in league play.
“We knew we needed to push, we needed to play hard, we needed to rebound and we needed to value the ball,” Smaldone said. “[Deer Park] had come back once already and we couldn’t give them an opportunity to do that again.”
East Islip held a commanding lead throughout the game before the Falcons’ fourth-quarter comeback. East Islip outscored Deer Park 15-4 in the second quarter to take a 24-13 halftime lead.
Impressive efforts by senior Delargy and junior Jamirah Jones kept the Falcons in contention. Delargy and Jones had 12 and nine points, respectively, in the fourth quarter.
Including Smaldone, East Islip’s lineup features three eighth-graders and a seventh-grader. As a senior captain, Talt says it doesn’t make a difference.
“All I want them to do is to keep shooting and keep their heads up,” she said. “The fact that they’re young doesn’t take away from their ability to play. If they didn’t have the ability to be here, they wouldn’t be. I have full faith in each of them.”
To coach Mike Petre, it’s those performances that make it all worth it.
“I’ve been doing this for 37 years, and that was one of the best regular-season games I’ve ever been involved in,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with the team, with the chemistry, with the leadership and, most importantly, with the win.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
