Authors Posts by Bill Landon

Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

It was the elite 11 cheerleading teams who made it to the Suffolk County finals at Sachem East High School Saturday, Feb. 17, in the Class A and coed competitions looking to punch their ticket to the state championship round next month.

Centereach High School team dazzled the fans in their 2 1/2 minute routine followed by Commack in front of a capacity crowd. Smithtown East took to the mat for their time in the spotlight in a spirited routine clearly happy with their performance.

Ward Melville stole the show in the coed division with an inspiring demonstration scoring 92.6 to capture the Section XI crown and with it will make the journey to the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton for the state finals March 2. 

Comsewogue’s Vienna Guzman banks two for the Warriors in a road game against Rocky Point. Bill Landon photo

By Bill Landon

Rocky Point trailed the Comsewogue Warriors from the opening tipoff but closed within two points at 24-22 at the halftime buzzer. Comsewogue erupted in the second half outscoring the Eagles by 10 points in the third quarter and eight more in the fourth to win the game 53-33 in the League IV road game Feb. 8.

Vienna Guzman topped the scoring charts for Comsewogue with 16 points followed by Maria Stamatopoulos and Jayla Callender with nine points apiece.

McKenzie Moeller led the Eagles with 10 points followed by Kylie Lamoureux who banked seven.

The win lifted the Warriors to 10-2 in league standings behind top-seeded Westhampton while the Eagles dropped to 8-4 for third place in the division. 

Port Jefferson’s Preston Biedenkapp battles Nate Spuhler @ 170lbs for the county championship. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

North Shore grapplers made a statement in the Suffolk County Division 2 wrestling championship at Center Moriches High School Friday night, Feb. 9, when Shoreham Wading River’s Chris Colon defeated Aidan Lee (124 lbs) in a 12-4 decision for the county championship yet again. Teammate Gavin Mangano easily won his match 15-0 against his Port Jeff opponent, Frank D’Elia, at 131 lbs. 

Mount Sinai’s Brayden Fahrbach pinned his Port Jeff challenger, Cade Delgado, in just 38 seconds at 138 lbs for the county title.

Port Jeff’s Chris Lotten defeated Matt Cucciniello of Mount Sinai to become county champion at 152 lbs with a 9-2 decision. At 170 lbs, it was Port Jeff’s Preston Biedenkapp besting his Shoreham-Wading River opponent, Nate Spuhler, with a 6-0 decision.

John Glenn was the top team (302 points) followed by Mount Sinai (250) and Port Jefferson (214), with Shoreham-Wading River (175) placed fifth.

Winning the Rick Herrmann Most Outstanding Wrestler award was Shoreham-Wading River’s Gavin Mangano, while teammate Chris Colon shared the Jack Mahoney Champion of Champions title with John Glenn’s Tommy Aiello.

By Bill Landon

When the Ward Melville Patriots traveled to winless Central Islip, it was a different kind of basketball game. It was clear three minutes in that the Patriots would prevail, but head coach Alex Piccirillo pulled most of his starters and throttled the offensive pressure. Leading by 13 points at 17-4 after the first quarter, Ward Melville ran down the 35-second shot clock to single digits the rest of the way so as not to run up the score.

The Patriots easily closed out the game with a 46-26 victory in the Feb. 1 Division I matchup.

Neelesh Raghurama drained four triples and a field goal for 14 points and Devin Lynch added 10. Luke Kordic netted seven points, Logan Seta and Lorenzo Beaton banked four points apiece.

After beating visiting Longwood 54-51 Feb. 5, the Patriots (now 8-6 league) find themselves in fourth place with two games remaining before playoff season begins.  

— Photos by Bill Landon 

By Bill Landon

Locked in a three-way tie for third place in their division, Newfield (8-5) hosted North Babylon (8-5) needing a win as the postseason playoff picture begins to emerge. 

After briefly tying the game in the opening 16 minutes of play the Wolverines trailed by eight points at the halftime break. 

Newfield needed a spark to open the second half, but North Babylon peppered the scoreboard in the third quarter stretching its lead from which the Wolverines would not recover, falling to the Bulldogs 74-55 in the League II matchup Tuesday night, Feb. 6.

Newfield junior Josh Hayes had the hot hand for the Wolverines with seven field goals and four free throws for 18 points and Kenny Petit Frere added 11. Teammates Jaysiah Deliat netted nine, while Jacob Roman and Michael Favaloro banked five points apiece.

Now at 8-6 in the league (10-7 overall), Newfield will look to win their last two games of the regular season before postseason play begins Wednesday, Feb. 21.

Newfield varsity competes in cheer competition. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Riverhead High School hosted a varsity cheer competition where 44 different high schools converged throughout the day on Saturday, Jan. 27, where each school showcased their school spirit in four different categories in an all-day event.

Newfield wowed the crowd in their 2 1/2 minute performance in the Class A Division collecting 70.65 points from the judges before a near-capacity audience. 

Newfield retakes the mat on Saturday, Feb. 3, in another multischool competition at Hauppauge High School at 12 p.m.

— Photos by Bill Landon 

By Bill Landon

The Rocky Point Eagles went into the halftime break protecting a one-point lead in a home game against Comsewogue, trailed by two at the end of three quarters of play but were able to rally in the final eight minutes, to win the game 62-52 in the League IV matchup Jan. 25.

Rocky Point junior Casmere Morrow was the spark for the Eagles hitting a pair of 3-pointers, six field goals and eight from the charity stripe for 26 points, and senior Liam Conlan banked 17. 

Chris Beverly netted 15 points for the Warriors, Joey Santoro notched 12 points and Dale Allison added 11.

The win lifted the Eagles to 5-6 in league while the loss dropped the Warriors to 4-6.

Ward Melville varsity competes in co-ed cheer competition. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Riverhead High School hosted a varsity cheer competition where 44 different high schools converged throughout the day on Saturday, Jan. 27, where each school showcased their school spirit in an all-day event.

The Patriots of Ward Melville was the class of the field, winning first place in the Coed Division with a rousing performance center stage in front of a packed gymnasium. Scoring 90.3 by the panel of judges, the Patriots took home top honors over second place Walt Whitman who notched a score of 79.9. 

Patriot head coach Georgia Gass said she was pleased with her team’s performance. “This team works so hard day in and day out at every practice and it showed today,” she said. “They have a way of drawing everyone’s attention whenever they’re on the mat,” adding that she and her assistant coach Maggie Hurley are incredibly proud of what their team has accomplished.

The win keeps the Patriots atop the Suffolk County leader board with an 86.73 average followed by Walt Whitman at 78.01, while Half Hollow Hills rounds out the top three at 76.94.

By Bill Landon

Led by the sophomore Mia Betancourt, the Mount Sinai Mustangs outran visiting Bayport-Blue Point in the Jan. 19 League VI matchup Friday night. Betancourt banked 24 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for the triple-double leading her team to the 78-64 victory. 

Freshman Alexa Cergol netted nine field goals and a 3-pointer from the line for 21 points and Kyla Orlando, a junior, banked 14.

Senior Ashley Sankey did her damage from long range, draining three triples for nine points.

The Mustangs retake the court Thursday, Jan. 25, when they host Center Moriches. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The win keeps the Mustangs atop the League VI leaderboard at 6-0, 9-4 overall, with six games remaining before postseason play begins.

By Bill Landon

Smithtown West riding a four-game winning streak, came calling on the Comsewogue Warriors — who had won their last five games — in a foul-riddled game that wouldn’t be decided until the final 30 seconds of the League IV matchup. 

Comsewogue trailed by one at the end of eight minutes of play but clawed their way to lead by two at the halftime break. Smithtown West would stay withing striking distance in the second half, but the Warriors were able to corral the Bulls to win it 46-43 Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Comsewogue forward Jalynn Kirschenhueter did what she’s done all season doing her damage from long range nailing three triples, a field goal and five from the free-throw line to lead her team with 16 points. Hannah Ellis the senior followed with 15 and Jayla Callender the sophomore netted eight.

Catherine Piccininni led the way for the Bulls notching 13 points.

The win lifts the Warriors to 6-1 in league, 8-4 overall, as the Bulls drop to 4-3 in league as both teams retake the court Thursday, Jan. 25.

Comsewogue hits the road to take on Westhampton, the top seed in their division, while Smithtown West will host Hills West. Both game times are at 4 p.m.