Hunting for Mudita

Throughout her five-year career as a Commack Cougar basketball star, Sofia Vasselman will tell you that her life has been filled with a bounty of Mudita.

One of the most prominent tenets of Vasselman’s essence is based upon the ancient Sanskrit concept of finding joy in the success of others called Mudita. With her 1,000-point high school career speeding towards its final chapter, getting the opportunity to step on the court Thursday Night in the Suffolk quarterfinals against Huntington brought pure joy and contentment for everyone inside the Commack Varsity Basketball program. 

“What the Commack girls basketball team has given me is really indescribable,” said the Geneseo-bound and two-time league MVP Vasselman.  “The relationships and bonds I have made playing this sport is incomparable because this team and school are my family.”

Vasselman, who was fourth in scoring in Suffolk county this year and averaged nearly 20 points a game, was initially suspended for this playoff game by a Section XI rule that states a player who commits two intentional fouls in the same game will be ejected and ineligible for the team’s next contest. Vasselman was called for two intentional fouls in Commack’s regular season finale against Bay Shore on Feb 7. She would not be allowed to play for the fourth-seeded Cougars in the quarterfinal game against Huntington. 

She sought a restraining order to overturn the suspension. 

Vasselman’s case became the third in a spate of high-profile high school athletic court cases this month in Suffolk County. Two weeks earlier, six Northport wrestlers were suspended from the post-season for a rules violation but were reinstated; and legendary long distance runner Zariel Macchia from Longwood was also ruled ineligible from New York State competition because she competed against college athletes earlier in the year. Macchia will not participate in the state tournaments but will be eligible to run for the Lions in the spring.

Vasselman won her case and the Cougar Mudita had been restored. The Commack community that she loves was behind her every step of the way and Vasselman wanted them to know that she gives it right back.

“The community’s support during this time is something I will never forget and I really do appreciate from the bottom of my heart,” said Vasselman. “This is the main reason I love Commack basketball and the fans and the great people that come with it.”

Her teammates’ support never wavered.

“Sofia is an amazing player and captain,” said junior forward Gianna Solch. “ She is an unbelievable leader for this team and she pushes everyone else around her to be their best selves. Over the years, she has helped me to develop more confidence in myself and my game and helped me to build new friendships that have made the girls on this team my best friends. She is a true leader, a wonderful friend, and someone who has made a huge impact on my life. When she was cleared to play for this game, I was so, so happy for her and the team.”

With a victory in the courthouse and the team Namaste whole again, it was time to chase another win on the court. But the upstart Huntington Blue Devils stood in their way.

In the moments before tipoff, the support Vasselman felt transformed into a deafening din of noise and anticipation. The Commack High School gym, which is one of the most acoustically intense arenas on Long Island, was ready to have its roof blown off. 

Half of this noise came from Huntington’s cheering section, which made it clear that they had very little love in their collective heart for Vasselman, going decibel for decibel with the hometown Cougar crowd. First-year Huntington coach Perry Marinelli and his fifth-seeded Lady Blue Devils had a plan of attack for Vasselman. 

“Sofia is a great player,” said Marinelli. “So we threw a bunch of different defenders and looked at her to try to keep her off balance.”

This seemed to work.

Vasselman hit an early layup, but from there, Huntington’s defense smothered her. Rotating double teams, they denied her the ball, forcing her to the perimeter and choking off any clear path to the rim. She was held to just six points in the first half on two for 11 from the field and zero for five from three point range. Huntington junior guard Jolie Weinschreider was one of several defensive attack dogs assigned to keep Vasselman away from the hoop.

“Playing Sofia is tough,” said Weinschreider. “They were setting picks for her, which I had to constantly get around. I watched her hips while face guarding which helped me significantly and I stayed low so I wouldn’t be faked out by all her moves. When she got the ball, we knew to double-team her and shift our defense.”  

Huntington took a 16-11 lead into halftime. Junior guard Sabrina Boyle scored the first five points of the game, getting the all-blue Huntington cheering section out of their seats and into a full-throated roar that lasted the entire first half.

“It seems like our whole school came out for this one,” said Boyle who finished with 11 points. “The atmosphere in here was really electric and I think that really helped our team.”

In the second half, both offenses peaked out slightly from their shells. Huntington sophomore point guard Ava McDonald hit a lefty layup to push the Devil lead to seven; however, Commack junior forward Mia McBrien scored five consecutive points at the start of the third period that spearheaded a 12-2 run by the Cougars. After a made free throw by Vasselman, they led 23-20 with 1:18 left in the quarter and Marinelli took a timeout. Chants of ‘Let’s Go Commack’ reverberated across Scholar Lane and could be heard up and down Indian Head Road.

When Commack senior guard Liliana Pettit hit a three-pointer from the wing, it gave her team a 26-21 lead, as the building shook with delight. But it would soon go suddenly silent.

McDonald, the underclassman floor general for Huntington hit on a driving layup to close out the scoring of this suddenly explosive third quarter, but when she came down, she rolled on the floor in pain, clutching her right leg. Marinelli and the Huntington training staff raced out to tend to McDonald, who was helped off the court several minutes later to polite applause. A mood shift was palpable in the arena as it appeared McDonald’s day was done.

With a big wrap around her thigh, McDonald re-entered with a little over five minutes remaining in the game and immediately made a deft pass to fellow sophomore Madyn Kalb for an easy layup to make the score 29-27.

“There was no way I wasn’t coming back in this game,” said McDonald. “I told Coach Marinelli that even if I play on one leg, I want to go back in. Make me a fake hamstring if you have to.”

She made a steal of the ensuing inbound and hit Kalb again for a breakaway layup to tie the score. This one was going down to the wire.

Boyle made a steal with Commack up one, sprinted coast-to-coast, and flipped the lead back to Huntington with 2:30 left. Solch hit a jumper for Commack for the 10th lead change of the game as this battle of punch-counterpunch continued deep into the final quarter.

However, Huntington would deliver the final two haymakers—one on offense, one on defense. With McDonald out of the game again, having her bandages redressed, Weinschreider inbounded to senior Lauren Donaghy in the corner. Falling off balance and nearly out of bounds, Donaghy buried a three to give Huntington a 38-36 lead with 1:25 left. 

“I hadn’t taken a lot of threes all game and when it left my hand, I didn’t think it was going in,” Donaghy, who led all scorers with 13, said. “It changed my momentum and I think it changed the momentum of the game.”

Vasselman, who led the Cougars to the county finals last year against Walt Whitman, had 85 seconds to swing the mojo back. She pulled down a rebound and hit Solch with a perfect, three-quarter court dime, but Solch missed the layup that would have tied the score.  

Weinschreider sank one of two free throws, pushing Huntington’s lead to three with 21 seconds left. Vasselman, who only had one game in the regular season when she failed to hit at least one three pointer, was zero for eight from long distance up to this point. Guarded both by Kalb and Boyle, Vasselman hoisted up a three point attempt right in front of the Commack bench. It was an air ball. The loose ball was gathered up by 5-foot-7 Pettit, who had her shot from the corner blocked by the 5-foot-2, one-legged McDonald. The ball deflected into the front row of the now-celebratory Huntington cheering section. The McDonald block was the exclamation point on this game. The final score was 42-38.

“I don’t block a lot of shots, but after getting injured, I just tried to keep my composure and do anything I could to win this game,” McDonald said.

“Ava is a captain as a sophomore, an emotional leader, and a huge part of what we do on both ends of the floor,” said Marinelli. “When she went down, I knew the girls would rally around her and step up. I was thrilled with how every one of our girls responded and kept their composure. We talked all week about focusing only on what we can control. This game is what high school sports are all about and this win felt great.”

For Vasselman, not so much, but she sees the bigger joy of being a Cougar, her Mudita undisturbed despite the heartbreaking loss in what is to be her game as a high school player.

“My goal at Commack was to leave my legacy and that’s what I feel I have done,” said Vasselman who finished with 12 points in her final game. “I will miss being a part of this team forever and I hope that I have shown the younger players what it means to be on this team and how special it really is. Coaches Moran, DelliSanti and Whitaker helped me become a player and a person who wants to reach the best of my ability and I will always be thankful for them.” 

Huntington will face top-seeded Brentwood in the semifinals on Wednesday, March 5 at Comsewogue High School.