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Boys Basketball

Trailing by three at the halftime break, Newfield had a productive third quarter to retake the lead over Commack in a League II matchup at home. The Wolverines kept the Cougars at bay in the final eight minutes to secure a 57-50 victory Jan 13.  

Senior Hamza Yousef led the way for Newfield hitting two triples, five field goals and two from the free throw line for 18 points. Isaiah Brown followed with four from the floor, three at the line for 11 points along with 16 rebounds, and Josh Jacobs the senior along with junior Kyle Milano netted 10 points apiece. Michael Agostino added eight.

The win lifts the Wolverines to 5-2 in league, 7-5 overall, to move third place behind Northport and Ward Melville. The Wolverines retake the court Jan 15 in a non-league matchup at home against Walt Whitman. Game time is at noon.

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Once again Ward Melville senior Tommy Engel led his team in scoring in a League II matchup against Bay Shore, scoring 16 points for a 59-49 victory at home Jan. 11.

Teammates Tommy Ribaudo and KJ Anderson each scored 12 points apiece and Lorenzo Beaton banked seven. Seniors Frank Carroll, Michael Dargan and Josh Horvath netted four points each. The win lifts the Patriots to 5-1 in the league, 10-2 overall. Ward Melville is one game behind Northport who sits atop the leaderboard.

The Patriots are back in action Jan. 14 with a road game against Walt Whitman. Game time is 7 p.m.

 

Port Jeff senior forward Peter Murphy looks for the rebound for the Royals in a victory over Shelter Island in a league VII home game Jan 11. Photo by Bill Landon

It was all Port Jefferson in a league VII home game against Shelter Island where the Royals made short work of the Islanders with a 71-11 victory Jan. 11. 

Senior Peter Murphy led the way for the Royals with 7 rebounds and 6 field goals for 12 points, Steven Bayer hit a triple and 4 field goals for 11 and Conor Daily banked 10. 

The win lifts the Royals to 6-2 in league 6-3 overall. Port Jeff retakes the court Jan. 13 with another home game against Greenport. Tip-off is at 6:15 p.m.

— All photos by Bill Landon

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It was the battle of the Bulls when Smithtown East traveled to Smithtown West High School where East faced an unrelenting defensive press by Smithtown West in a League III matchup Dec. 20. Smithtown West caused several turnovers that resulted in a 21-point lead at the half. West benched their starters and played the balance of their roster in the 62-36 victory to remain undefeated.  

Smithtown West senior forward Patrick Burke led his team in scoring with a free throw and eight field goals for 17 points. Teammate Tyler Anderson followed netting 14, and Lorenzo Rappa banked eight. 

Smithtown East sophomore Benjaman Haug hit a three-pointer five from the floor and six from the free throw line for 19 points. 

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It was Tommy Engel who had the hot hand for the Patriots and scored seemingly from anywhere on the floor as the senior forward banked a team high 27 points for Ward Melville in a 71-28 victory over Lindenhurst. Engel drained seven three-pointers and netted three field goals to lead his team in the League II home game Dec 17.

Senior Frank Carroll banked five from the floor and one from the line for 11 points, and Lorenzo Beaton scored seven. The win lifts the Patriots to 2-0 in league, 6-0 overall. 

The Patriots are back in action with a road game against Commack Dec 22. Tip-off is at 6:45 p.m. 

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Senior forward Joey Marchese rebounds for the Wildcats at home against Hampton Bays. Photo by Bill Landon

Shoreham-Wading River briefly held onto a four-point lead with 2 minutes left in regulation when the visiting Baymen of Hampton Bays rallied to tie the game at 49 all with 1:54 left in the game. 

The Wildcats scored at the :59 second mark to take a 51-49 advantage that set up a nail-biting finish, but were able to hold on for the win. The Wildcats were at full strength after an extended football season sidelined some of their starters (needing to meet the required number of practices), in the first few games of this early season. 

Senior Liam Leonard led the way for the Wildcats with two field goals, two trey’s and five free throws for 15 points followed by teammate Anthony Osness, who banked five from the floor and one from the line for 11 points.

— All photos by Bill Landon 

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The Patriots of Ward Melville trailed almost the entire game, at one point down by 11 points, in a non-league road game against Sachem North. The Patriots tied the game at 41-41 with less than a minute left in regulation when Tommy Ribaudo’s three-pointer at the final buzzer gave the Patriots their only lead in the game when it mattered most, a 44-41 victory in a thriller Tuesday night, Dec. 7.

The win lifts the Patriots to 3-0 with another non-league matchup before they begin league play with a road game against Connetquot Dec. 14. Game time is 6:45 p.m.

Pictured clockwise from above left,  Ward Melville senior Tommy Engel from the free throw line; senior center Josh Horvath goes to the rim; senior Tommy Ribaudo gets mobbed by teammates after his buzzer-beater trey won the game for the Patriots; senior Michael Dargan drives the baseline; and Engel drives the baseline.

Port Jeff senior John Sheils looks to rebound after a free throw in a home game against Southold Dec 3. Photo by Bill Landon

Port Jefferson opened their league VII season with a dominant performance over Southold where the Royals broke out to a 14-1 lead in the early going and never looked back. 

The First Settlers made a better showing in the second quarter, but still trailed 26-11 at the halftime break. 

With a 16-point advantage to begin the final 8 minutes of play, the Royals spelled their starters, flushed their bench and cruised to a 54-37 victory.

Senior guard John Sheils led the way in scoring for the Royals with 21 points and junior forward Luke Dickhuth netted 18.

The Royals retake the court with a road game against Pierson Dec. 9 with a 6:15 p.m. start.

— All photos by Bill Landon 

By Steven Zaitz

The inside of the Brentwood High School gymnasium is wallpapered with a half-century’s worth of championship basketball banners. 

League titles, Suffolk County and Long Island crowns are all on display, as the facade behind the north basket at Stan Kellner Fieldhouse holds a rich hoops history.

The most recent decoration behind that basket is a Suffolk County Class AA Championship placard that the Indians earned when they scalped Northport Tigers by 27 points, right before the pandemic struck a year ago. They were Suffolk County champs in 2019 as well.

Short season or not, Brentwood seemed to be on a mission to roll right through anybody that stood in their way in 2021. They had been putting up massive scoring numbers and were winning by 40, 50 or 60 points every night, just for fun. Newsday’s top ranked player for Long Island, senior forward Jordan Riley, who has committed to Georgetown University, averaged an astounding 33 points a game, and he hit that exact mark in Brentwood’s first round win over Commack on Saturday, an 83-49 rout. This Indians team was seemingly an unstoppable force.

Insert immovable object here.

“We didn’t care about any of that,” said Northport junior power forward Dylan McNaughton.  “Once the whistle blows, it’s their five guys versus our five guys. We are Northport.”

In one of the biggest upsets in recent high school basketball memory, the Tigers slipped past the Brentwood Indians, 58-56, on Sunday, to win the Suffolk County Conference I championship in a defensive yet thrilling contest that came right down to the wire.

“Our guys believed in the plan,” said an elated but exhausted Andrew D’Eloia, head coach of Northport. “We played a great brand of help defense, we rebounded well and we limited our turnovers. We have good players, we executed and we believed in each other. That’s the only way to beat a team like that.”

Senior guard and team captain Patrick Healy led the Tigers with 19 points.  He and backcourt mate senior Robbie Kennedy, who had 10, poked and prodded at the Brentwood defense, exploiting small cracks and getting to the rim.

“They didn’t want to give us the ‘3’,” Healy said. “Robbie and I took what they were willing to give us.”

The Tigers only made five 3-point shots on eight attempts, both statistics well below their average.

“Our goal is to get a good shot on every possession,” D’Eloia said. “Patrick and Robbie did an excellent job of running the offense, sharing the basketball and when they had an opportunity to take an open driving lane, they did.”

Going strong to the basket against Brentwood is not for the faint of heart, especially for Kennedy who gave away significant height to the men who were guarding him.

“It’s like that every game I’ve ever played,” said Kennedy, who is listed at 5 feet 9 inches. “I’m always the shortest guy on the floor but I make up for it with confidence in myself.”

He had enough confidence to make what would be the final and decisive bucket of the game with less than a minute to go, and the score tied at 54-54. He drove to the basket against Brentwood’s Marquese Dennis and Billy Lucate, slid between them with a semi-Euro step and banked it in with a right-handed scoop.

“It feels amazing,” said Kennedy on his winning shot. “I’ve been here for four years and this is a great way to end my high school career.”

To get the opportunity to play in this historic title bout, Northport had to beat a game Ward Melville team on Feb. 27. They did that with a 45-32 win in a contest that took place at Northport High School. Healy led the team with 15 points and forward Jake Santamaria posted 10.

Although the final margin was 13, the game was tight for three quarters and the Patriots even enjoyed a four-point lead at halftime. That enjoyment was short-lived as the Tigers blitzed Ward Melville, 24-9 in the fourth quarter.

Santamaria had all 10 of his points in that decisive quarter, and McNaughton grabbed six rebounds and had 11 total boards for the game. In the two games, McNaughton, who also plays linebacker and quarterback for the Tiger football team, had 21 points and 22 rebounds.

“Dylan is a smart, skilled player with a great basketball demeanor,” D’Eloia said. “He’s a three-sport kid, and he competes hard.”

Against Brentwood, McNaughton caught an elbow in the face in the first quarter and played with a bloody nose plug for the rest of the game, a fitting metaphor for the hard-scrabble style that propelled the Tigers to victory and will now give them the opportunity to redecorate the walls of their gym.

Shoreham-Wading River dropped their season opener at home Feb. 11 against Center Moriches falling to the Red Devils by 7 points. 

The Wildcats dusted themselves off and went on a 7-game winning streak that included a semi-final 64-54 victory over Mattituck the day before only to face Center Moriches in the Conference IV finals Feb. 28. Hungry to avenge that season opening loss the Wildcats stayed withing striking distance through 8 minutes of play when the Red Devils stood on the gas and never looked back, to win it 76-61.

The Wildcat seniors led the way from the opening tip off with Joey Dwyer hitting 8 field goals 2 triples and 3 from the line to lead his team with 25 points. Co-Captains Thomas Bell nailed 10 from the floor along with a pair of free throws for 22 and Tristan Costello netted 9.

The Wildcats concluded their abbreviated season at 6-2 for 2nd place in League-VII, 7-2 overall.  Photos by Bill Landon