Manhasset has been the hunted team in the girls basketball Nassau Class AA playoffs as the top seed in each of the previous three seasons. That has resulted in two county final appearances, including a county and Long Island title. Although Manhasset won’t be in the same position for the postseason this winter, the team doesn’t see a reason it can’t have a similar result.

“We’re very motivated,” sophomore guard Danielle Perfetto said. “We know being Manhasset that we always need to be there. We need to be at that standard. It’s obviously not nice knowing we’re going to have a lower seed, but it doesn’t demoralize us as a team. We’re always ready to compete.”

Manhasset will enter the Nassau Class AA playoffs off a three-game winning streak, capped off with a 44-40 victory over host Bethpage in Nassau Conference AA-III girls basketball action on Monday. Manhasset finished the regular season at 12-8 overall, including 9-5 in the conference. Manhasset will learn its seed later in the week but remains focused on the goal of returning to the final for the third straight year.

“I think they are motivated to get back there,” coach Lauren Sadeh said. “I think they know what’s at stake in terms of our history and what has happened the last couple of years. We’ll definitely be on the lower end of seeding this year, but all it takes is a couple of good plays to get on a roll and I think anyone can beat anyone on any given day.”

Perfetto was integral to Monday’s victory with 22 points. After Bethpage cut Manhasset’s lead to 35-33 early in the fourth quarter, Perfetto made a three-pointer to start an 8-0 run over 1:24 as Manhasset took a 43-33 lead with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter.

“She made a couple big threes for us to get a little bit of life offensively when it didn’t really seem like anything else was working,” Sadeh said. “She’s been our workhorse.”

Kate Cusack finished with 25 points for Bethpage.

Bethpage answered with a 7-0 run and held Manhasset without a field goal over the final 5:39 of the contest. but Manhasset never trailed in the second half.

“We definitely needed that win,” Perfetto said. “It was a tight win, but it felt good to get that heading into the playoffs. I think confidence is a big thing. We all have trust in each other and we click as a team, but knowing that we’ve won three straight games is definitely helpful.”