Commack girls beat Miller Place for Suffolk badminton title
The Commack girls badminton team poses after winning the Suffolk girls badminton championship on Monday at Half Hollow Hills East. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
The Commack girls badminton team had additional motivation by not only seeing their opponent celebrate a county championship last year, but also by witnessing their classmates on the boys side win one. The Commack girls wanted to have that celebratory moment.
Top-seeded Commack earned that on Monday after defeating second-seeded Miller Place, 7-2, in the Suffolk girls badminton final at Half Hollow Hills East High School, one year after falling in the county final for the second straight season.
“We saw our boys win the Suffolk championship last year and the girls fell short,” senior Julia Kim said. “But to be able to win it this year and now over our high school badminton career to have both sides win, it’s great.”
Commack won its first girls badminton county title since 2019. The girls wanted to bring the program back to its championship-winning ways, but knew it wouldn’t be easy after a tough 5-4 match against Miller Place during the season.
“It’s a sense of fulfillment,” Kim said. “Of course we were scared to come here. We did have a really close match against [Miller Place] in the regular season, so to give it up now would have hurt even a little more.”
Commack won three of five singles and all four doubles. June Yoon defeated Carrie Davis, 21-15, 18-21, 21-6, at second singles.
“I didn’t even know how to play badminton when I first started, I literally learned in gym class and then I was like, ‘OK, I’ll try out for the team,’” said Yoon, a senior who played four varsity seasons. “I feel now that I’m No. 2 singles. That’s so different for me, and I’m so proud of myself also.”
On the boys side, top-seeded Half Hollow Hills defeated No. 2 Whitman, 8-1, in the final to improve to 17-0. Hills also had vengeance on its mind after losing in last year’s Suffolk final.
The Half Hollow Hills boys badminton team poses after winning the Suffolk boys badminton championship on Monday at Half Hollow Hills East. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Hills and Commack each play Jericho in Long Island championship matches at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK Middle School on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
Rajveer Gujral, who won his third straight Suffolk individual title this year, defeated Carter Phillips, 21-18, 21-6, to lead Hills to the victory. Whitman finished 14-3.
“Last year was a close game with Commack, but this year, we just had more motivation,” Gujral said. “The years before that, we won back-to-back county championships, so we’ve been thinking about this a lot. It was definitely in our heads all season.”
Gujral, Brian Yun, Timothy Kogan and Kevin Sahadeo each had individual wins for Hills. Yoon, Kim and Bianca Lee had individual wins for Commack.
