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Girls football teams prepare for season

by Steven Zaitz - March 23, 2023

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All photos by Steven Zaitz

Hauppauge High School was the scene this past Saturday for over 200 girls who will participate in flag football this year. Suffolk County footballers from as far away as East Hampton and Eastport-South Manor were put through their paces at eight different drill stations as they steam ahead toward opening day.

A little closer to home, Northport, Huntington, Sachem East, Amityville, Patchogue Medford, and of course, host Hauppauge all threw, ran, stretched and caught passes from coaches. Eagles Head Coach Steve Mileti ran the running back and flag-grabbing drill and Northport Head Coach Pat Campbell and Assistant Coach Perry Marinelli taught receivers how to catch the ball and run routes.

There was spirit of team building as the groups, comprised of a mash-up of girls from the participating schools, rotated around in 10-minute shifts, laughing and getting to know each other along the way.

The girls flag football season starts locally on March 29 when Hauppauge travels to Harborfields. Northport’s first game is on April 3 on the road against Half Hollow Hills.

Northport Girls join growing sport of flag football

by Steven Zaitz - March 16, 2023

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Early March is a rare quiet time on the Northport High School athletic calendar.

Winter sports have just about gone final, as athletes and coaches on spring teams mark the time until they can get back outside and play.

But on a wintry Wednesday night last week, in an otherwise empty building, Tiger Head Football Coach Pat Campbell is putting his players through their paces.

No, they are not members of Campbell’s boys team that went all the way to the Suffolk County final game at Stony Brook four months ago, tuning up for September — it is a tryout for hopefuls who are vying for a spot on the inaugural roster of the Northport Girls flag football team.

A group of about forty Lady Tigers will step on the gridiron for the first time ever when they travel to Center Moriches on April 1.

Girls football? It’s not an April Fools’ prank. Like any other athletic endeavor at Northport, it is serious business, and the expectation is to win, despite the newness of it all.

“Being a member of this team will definitely make us part of history at Northport High School,” said junior Allie Murdock, who is competing for the job of starting quarterback and was also a part of the leadership tandem that hatched the idea of such a team to school administrators. “This is an amazing opportunity for not only this group of girls, but future generations to play football.”

It was no small coincidence that Murdock, who had played in a mostly boys local flag football league since she was 10, made these remarks on what is recognized as International Women’s Day across the world.

This is the second year of competitive flag football on Long Island. Last year, 17 teams participated and in 2023, it has expanded to 41, with crosstown rivals Huntington, Harborfields and Half Hollow Hills jumping on board. Walt Whitman High, the defending Suffolk County champion, is a charter member, as are the Ward Melville Lady Patriots.

Campbell, who completed his sixth season as Tiger Head Coach this past fall, is excited for this opportunity. The list of girls on his potential roster is dotted with accomplished athletes in other sports but they have decided to roll the dice on this trailblazing journey.

“We have a great group of girls. Interest has been off the charts,” said Campbell, who is also the East Northport Middle School girls basketball coach. He knows a thing or two about coaching girls and football, just not at the same time — until now.

“I’m excited to be a part of getting this thing off the ground, and I look forward to the challenge of the teaching aspect of football to those who may be new to the game,” Campbell said. “Some of the girls know more, conceptually or schematically, about football than others. But from what I’ve seen so far, they are all eager to learn.”

Campbell’s preliminary roster includes girls like Brooke Kershow, a junior and a star on the Lady Tiger basketball and golf teams. She was the first to show up at the Wednesday workout. Her hoops teammates, sophomores Lily Beamer and Isabella Bica, were also there. Soccer stars Jamie Inzerillo, Ava Mir and Caitlyn Muzyka also suited up as did New York State Champion field hockey players Julia Cavallo, Brenna Malerba, Caeley Monez, Daniella Santagata, Grace Wickard, Caitlin O’Malley and Sophia Cox. Cox, also a track and field athlete, was eager to learn how to snap the ball through her legs and get an overall feel for the game of football.

“It’s something so new and such a great opportunity for the girls to be able to play football,” said Cox, a sophomore. I think this is the start of a greater journey and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Cox, who last year ran spring track, will not be allowed to participate in both sports as girls flag football has been officially sanctioned by the Section XI governing body as a true varsity sport in 2023. In 2022, it was a club sport and girls could play football and another spring sport if they so desired.

Kayleen Mulry, a junior who is a close friend of Murdock, had to make that hard choice and opted to stay with the legendary Tiger girls lacrosse program. Despite this, she lobbied hard alongside Murdock to bring girls football to Northport High.

“With football being such a male-dominant sport, seeing the growth of girls flag football throughout the area and the country was really inspiring and it opens up new opportunities for girls that hadn’t previously been available,” Mulry said. “It should never be looked down upon for girls to want to play football, which I think sadly it has been. Having a chance to take an interest and turn it into reality is what Allie and I did. Girls don’t have to feel like the only way to be a part of the football community is cheerleading, marching band or the Tigerettes. With the National Football League sponsoring high school flag football teams, they are promoting the involvement of women in football and changing the status quo. This is a great thing.”

The New York Jets have been a pivotal part of the growth of this program on Long Island and throughout the Tri-State area from both a financial and facilitative standpoint. Over 100 high schools from Hudson Valley, Long Island and New Jersey will participate in the Jets High School Girls Flag Football League. All new schools, including Northport, received implementation grants, uniforms and equipment from the Jets, with Nike and Gatorade also serving as corporate partners.

The league will culminate with New York State and New Jersey Championship games at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, New Jersey, on June 10.

“We went from less than 20 schools total in the Tri-State area in 2012 to 170 that will play this year,” said Eli Hodges, who is the Jets director of community relations and the unofficial commissioner of the JHSGFFL. “We are always looking to grow the game and the interest has exploded. I’ve heard so many stories of girls approaching athletic directors and high school principals saying, ‘we want this,’ similarly to what happened at Northport, and we are happy to help get them what they need to get it off the ground.”

Walt Whitman lost to Bellmore-Merrick 30-20 last June at the Long Island Championship game, which was hosted by Hodges and the Jets. Northport would love to visit Florham Park this summer but will be at a slight disadvantage in that 17 teams on the Island got a jump on them by playing last year. Nevertheless, at Northport, the expectation, as always, is to win.

“We’re building a program from scratch,” said assistant coach Perry Marinelli, who is Campbell’s defensive coordinator with the boys football team as well as one of Rich Castellano’s lieutenants on the Lady Tiger basketball team. “It’s up to Pat and me to foster a winning team and hopefully that will start Year One.”

Already a member of the Lady Tiger football team’s fan base is Northport Mayor Donna Koch, Class of 1979, who rose from the ranks of village clerk to the highest elected official in town.

“These girls are leading the way for younger generations and I’m proud of them,” Koch said. “Girls have the ability to play any sport and do anything that the boys can do and you never know, but maybe the next Tom Brady can come out of this.”

The mayor also said she would try to clear her calendar to make it to the opening home game on April 11 against Harborfields. Along with Koch, the team looks forward to the full-throated support of the student body and the village community at large.

As the games generally will not be played on Saturdays, the girls will miss some of the trappings and fanfare that the boys football team enjoys — one of which is the team bursting through the breakaway Tiger banner with a team captain leading the way and carrying an American Flag. This is a long-standing tradition at home football games for many teams across the county.

“I hope every girl on that field can get the feeling of excitement and know what they are doing is so inspiring,” Mulry said. “Not only to the community but to all the young girls that will now be looking up to them and watching them from the bleachers. That feeling will be just as indescribable as busting through that banner.”

When the Lady Tiger Flag Football team lines up for their opening kickoff next month, they will be breaking through something much more significant than a banner – they’ll be breaking new ground for generations to come.

Northport Tigers clawed by Whitman Wildcats

by Steven Zaitz - March 1, 2023

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All photos by Steven Zaitz

At the start of the Suffolk County girls basketball title game, everything was taking shape as one would expect.

On the campus of Stony Brook University, Walt Whitman Wildcat superstar guard Iris Hoffman threw up a long brick early in the first quarter against Northport on Saturday afternoon, and Lady Tiger Forward Kennedy Radziul collected the rebound, raced down the court and scored to put Whitman in an 11-0 hole.

The heavily favored top-seeded Tigers, who still have the burning memory of losing in last year’s Suffolk County AA Final to another of their archrivals Longwood, was in a fury. Whitman, who had never made it to a final, seemed as if they were simply happy to be participating in one.

But over the course of a game, stuff happens. Things change.

Lady Cat guard Casey Wagner picked Radziul’s pocket with six minutes remaining in the half that made the score 19-13 in favor of the Lady Tigers, as this was an early example of the thousand paper cuts that were to come for head coach Rich Castellano and his Tigers, who were looking to win their 11th Suffolk AA title in school history.

Northport would lead by six, seven, eight and nine for much of the middle third of the game but they could not swat away the pesky Cats. Whitman, despite Hoffman’s departure from the game when she picked up her fourth personal foul, crept all the way back. When Wagner threw a pinpoint baseball pass to forward Kathleen O’Mara to end the third, and then O’Mara hit on a gorgeous reverse layup to start the fourth, the Wildcats led 36-33.

Northport senior forward Sarah Morawski had the best game of her four-year varsity career with five three-pointers and 22 total points, but no other Tiger was in double figures.

Individual scoring wasn’t top of mind for Castellano and his girls who were craving to play the Nassau County champion. After last year’s loss to the Lady Lions, a game in which they also led heading into the second half, they were determined to scratch and tiger-claw their way back in this one.

Down by five with time melting away fast, Claire Fitzpatrick, who was quiet for much of the afternoon, made a nifty steal and then nailed a big basket from long range that made the score 42-40 with three minutes to go.

But Hoffman, who was inserted back into the game with her four fouls, stormed down the middle of the floor and hooked a no-look pass to O’Mara in the left corner. O’Mara sank the 15-footer, and the Wildcats went up by four. Forward Emma Creighton, who wears a gigantic knee brace on her left leg, drove freely and aggressively to the rim on the Wildcats’ next possession and suddenly the Tiger deficit crept to five — and time grew short.

Morowski, in her 90th career game and certainly the most bittersweet, calmly hit a three after a Whitman free throw to cut a six-point lead in half to three, 46-43 — a one possession game. When Creighton threw the ball out of bounds for Whitman, the Tigers had their chance to tie with about a minute to go.

Radziul, who does most of her scoring from 10 feet away and in, had a good look for three from the right elbow but the ball hit the back, left side of the rim and fell harmlessly into the hands of O’Mara. Northport was now a painful runner-up for the second year in a row. The final score was 48-44.

The Lady Tigers and their sparkling 21-2 overall record will have to wait at least another year to play the Nassau AA champion and this loss, piled on top of last year’s heartbreak, will make that wait feel much longer than just one time around the sun.

Meanwhile the Wildcats, who are currently on a 12-game winning streak, will face the winner of Massapequa and Baldwin. Whoever wins that game will travel to Hudson Valley Community College near Albany in the middle of March to compete for the New York State title.

Commack Cougars caged by Brentwood

by Steven Zaitz - March 1, 2023

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All photos by Steven Zaitz

Sometimes the third time is not the charm.

The Commack boys basketball team, bidding for its first Suffolk County AA Championship in school history, lost to the Brentwood Indians on Saturday night, 68-46. The game was played in front of about 1,500 fans at Stony Brook University’s Island Federal Arena.

Despite having beaten Brentwood twice in the regular season, Commack could not close the deal and found themselves down by 10 points just five minutes into the game. They never fully recovered.

The Indians clogged up passing lanes and caused myriad turnovers that led to easy baskets, as sophomore guard Jeremiah Webb and junior forward Marquese Dennis led Brentwood with 14 points each. Junior guard Tyrell Davender had 13.

Commack, who came into the final game having beaten top-seeded Smithtown West in the semifinals, cut the lead from 12 to 6 in the final two minutes of the first half. But they could not seize upon that momentum coming out of the tunnel to start the third period.

The Cougars mustered only a single point in the first five minutes of the second half until Cougar guard Mike Gitz hit a three-pointer from the wing. But during this stretch, Brentwood had built a 38-22 lead. And when 5-foot-10 guard Josh Ramos from Brentwood rattled in a long ball from the right corner with four and a half left in the game, the Commack stands began to empty. The score was 51-29 in favor of the Indians.

Gitz led the Cougars with 16 but most of those came when the game was out of reach for Commack. Star guard Nick Waga was held to two field goals and just six points on the evening.

It was the fourth Suffolk AA crown for head coach Anthony Jimenez and Brentwood since 2014. Usually a highly seeded team, the seventh-ranked Indians had to knock off No. 2 Bayshore and No. 3 Bellport to reach the final. They finished with an overall record of 17-7. Commack finishes at 20-4.

Pictured clockwise from above, Cougars’ Nick Waga drives to hole but is called for an offensive foul; Commack’s Mike Gitz; and Cougars’ Chris McHugh (34) goes in for a contested layup as Freddy Diogene defends.

Down by 10 in second half, Commack Cougars roar back to beat Bulls, 48-43

by Steven Zaitz - February 23, 2023

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The Commack Cougars boys basketball team continued their march to the Suffolk County AA championship by beating the top-seeded Smithtown West Bulls in the semi-final round on Tuesday night at neutral site Longwood High School. The final score was 48-43.

Commack senior center Ethan Meisel led the Cougars with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and he tied the score with a layup with two minutes left in the game after Smithtown West had been up by as many as 10.

But Commack, the fourth seed, outscored West 22-7 over the final 13 minutes of the game, and key free throws down the stretch by senior guard Mike Gitz after a gigantic offensive rebound by senior power forward Chris McHugh, with 10 seconds remaining in the game, sealed the win for Commack. Junior guard Nick Waga, who appeared to be seriously injured with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, reentered the game to help close out the contest. Waga scored 10 points and handled the crunch-time pressure that West applied in their desperate attempts to create late-game turnovers.

The Bulls were again without superstar center Patrick Burke who dislocated his knee against Northport earlier this month and this gave Meisel, McHugh and forward Matt Rosenoff to freely operate in and around both their offensive and defensive baskets.

West senior guard Jack Melore scored 15 for the Bulls but missed on all four of his three-point shots in the second half. Brothers Lorenzo and Ben Rappa combined for 20 points in the losing effort.

Commack will attempt to win the county crown in the program’s history when they take on seventh-seeded Brentwood, who knocked off third-seeded Bellport, 63-59, earlier in the day. The AA Championship game will be held at Stony Brook University’s Island Federal Credit Union Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. The winner will take on the Small School Champion, who is yet to be determined.

Lady Tigers beat Pat-Med; advance to Suffolk semis

by Steven Zaitz - February 22, 2023

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Rich Castellano, the legendary Northport Lady Tiger Basketball coach, had many reasons to celebrate on Saturday.

He notched his 736th victory, padding his mind-blowing total as Long Island’s all-time winningest coach. By doing so, his team’s record improved to 20-1 on the year and they advanced to the semi-final round of the Suffolk County Playoffs with their breezy 71-28 victory over Patchogue-Medford.

It was also Castellano’s birthday — and his players showered their hard-driving skipper with gifts of championship-caliber play pretty much from the opening tap in what was the Tigers final home game of the year.

“It was a great birthday present,” Castellano said. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

Northport was far from overworked on Saturday against the Lady Raiders as the 43-point margin of victory would suggest, but the Lady Tigers never take a day off.

Tough-as-nails senior point guard and captain Payson Hedges scored on a driving layup in the opening moments of the game and had seven points in the first quarter, as Northport took a 15-9 lead after one. Hedges also made several nifty passes to junior Kennedy Radziul, who led all scorers with 18 points and sophomore Claire Fitzpatrick, to highlight the first quarter.

“Payson is such a complete player,” Castellano said. “She makes the correct pass every time and she sees angles on the court that only a good point guard is able to see. She also gets rebounds when she needs to and plays great defense. I think she gets the number one star in this game.”

Hedges had five assists and seven rebounds to go along with her 13 points. As she typically does with the sharing of the basketball, she shared the credit with her tight-knit Lady Tiger teammates.

“Our whole team had a great game today,” said the cross-over lacrosse star Hedges. “We stayed focused and played hard all the way through.”

Coming in as heavy underdogs, the Lady Raiders were dealt a harsher blow to their chances when their best player Diamond Pertillar suffered an ankle injury early in the second quarter that sidelined her for the rest of the contest. Pertillar is Pat-Med’s leading scorer, averaging 16 points a game.

After Pertillar’s injury, Northport built a 35-15 lead. But the Tigers didn’t escape the first half without a painful scare of their own.

Oft-injured senior guard Emma Kezys, who has been with the varsity program since the Lady Tigers won the Suffolk County crown in 2020, hobbled off with a knee injury with only 15 seconds remaining in the half. Kezys, who missed 11 games earlier in the year with a concussion and has also missed time with various knee injuries over the past two seasons, was expected to be available on Wednesday — results not available at press time — when Northport took on William Floyd in the Suffolk semi-finals which was played at Longwood High School in Middle Island.

“Emma is the heart and soul of the team, and she gives 110% all the time,” said Castellano. “She goes out there and in the first five seconds she’s on the floor, she takes a charge. That’s just the way she plays.”

Despite her latest injury, Kezys is confident that she will be cleared to play on Wednesday.

“This game is a big deal and I’ll be ready,” said the four-year letterman. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

With the Kezys injury and a lead that ballooned to 40 points with two minutes left in the third quarter, Castellano removed his starters and gifted every one of his active bench players with some playoff experience.

The younger kids didn’t miss a beat.

Sophomore Isabella Bica, whose sister Sohpia was also a 10th grader on the 2020 championship team, played 14 minutes and hit a three pointer in the third quarter. Freshmen Jillian Ryan ran the point and had a couple of buckets, and sophomore guard Lily Beamer also got a chance to run the offense. Eighth-grader Ava DeMarco also logged some time and earned a rousing ovation from her teammates simply for making a free throw as time wound down. The Tiger celebration had begun.

Castellano then got a chance to insert players who have been brought up from Junior Varsity for the playoffs. Eighth-grader Riley Cash, freshmen Ella Johnson and Grace Gilmartin and sophomore Sophia Lang, who made a three pointer on her only attempt, all got the pleasure of finishing the ballgame.

Starter Fitzpatrick, who is still only a sophomore but is a three-year starter, finished with 12 points despite sitting for most of the second half. She was giddy to gift Castellano yet another win, but she wants to shower him with more.

“I would love to give him a Long Island Championship for his birthday and for everything he does for us,” said the precocious 10th grader. “He absolutely loves us with his whole heart and would do anything for us, and to get him ‘The Chip’ this year would be amazing.”

And that would be a very happy belated birthday present for Northport’s coaching Grand Poobah Castellano. The man with most famous yet ever-graying mustache in Suffolk agreed.

“That would be a great gift.”

Northport outmuscles Centereach in opening round of playoffs

by Steven Zaitz - February 16, 2023

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Andrew Miller scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Northport Tigers boys basketball team defeated the Centereach Cougars 58-45 on Tuesday night in their opening round Suffolk County playoff game.

The Tigers played a stifling brand of defense and had too much size for the visiting Cougars, who were limited to six points in the second quarter and nine points in the third. Northport dominated the glass, outrebounding Centereach 44-29 for the game.

The Cougars had no answer for Miller, and they tried to guard him with a rotation of different players, each having little luck against the 6’4” bruising senior. Miller dominated the painted area, slicing and dicing his way to easy layups. Northport senior guard Brendan Carr had 14 points, including six big ones in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the game, but when Cougar guard Christopher Buzaid hit a three pointer midway through the fourth quarter, Centereach cut the Northport lead to eight. It would be the closest the Cougars would get — as baskets by Miller, Carr and sophomore Owen Boylan gave the Tigers a 54-37 lead with two minutes to go in the contest.

Senior guard Evan Grant led Centereach with 11 points and Buzaid had 10.

In a Battle of the Ports, Northport will battle the Bellport Clippers on Friday, Feb. 17, in the Suffolk County quarterfinal round at Bellport.

The Cougar season ends with a mark of 13-8 overall and 10-6 in league play.

North Shore track teams compete in Section XI championships

by Steven Zaitz - January 26, 2023

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Northport and Huntington

Northport and Huntington Winter Track teams — girls and boys for both schools — participated in the Section XI League II Championships Jan. 20. Northport’s boys and girls team both finished in third place, while Huntington’s boys finished fourth in a field of 10. The Lady Blue Devils finished in ninth out of nine, but they did have some bright spots.

The highlights of the evening for the Tigers and Blue Devils were aplenty:

• Northport’s incredible Wickard sisters, junior Emily and twin eighth graders Mia and Finnley, swept first, second and third place in both the 1500-meter and 3000-meter races, as they have done numerous times before.
• Devils Matt Armstrong and Kender Edouazin took first and second in the 600-meter race and Blue Devil Jahmar Francis was sixth. Northport had the best-finishing freshman with Alex Toran, who came in ninth. All of these athletes broke a minute and a half as the rest of the field of 28 did not.
• Armstrong also took gold in the 3200. Northport’s Timmy Sheahan was fifth in that race.
• Lady Tiger Katie Hayes took first place in the 1000 as her teammates Kayla Forsch and Kaylee Ryan also finished in the Top 10 in a field of 24. Northport’s Ella Cancro won gold in the 600-meter.
• Three Tiger shot putters finished in the Top six, with Ethan Makaw winning the whole thing. Mason Hecht was third and Karl Schluter was sixth. Makaw broke 44 feet.
• Erik Holden, of Northport, was second in the 55-meter hurdles and Nicholai Seferian, of Huntington, was third, both finishing in under 8.5 seconds.
• James McNaughton and Brandon Cruz of Northport finished one-two in 1000-meter run. Nick Seitz, of Huntington, made the top 10 in a field of 24.
• Andrea Mani-Munoz and Talia Addeo, of Huntington, finished in fourth and sixth in the 1500-meter race walk.
• Chris Payne came in second in the 1600-meter race for Northport as fellow Tiger Thomas Cavuoto was eighth. Both are seniors.
• Blue Devil Nikolai Lulewich was second in the boys high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 8 inches.
• Northport and Huntington were both solid in relays. The boys were second to meet champ Connetquot in the 4 x 200. The Lady Tigers won the 4 x 800 and took third in the 4×400. The Blue Devil Boys won the 4 x 400 relay race as Northport took second in the 4 x 200 and Huntington was third

Commack and Smithtown East

Commack and Smithtown East’s winter track team — girls and boys for both schools — participated in the Section XI League II Championships Jan. 20. Commack had a wildly successful meet as their girls finished first and their boys notched second overall. The Smithtown East girls finished fifth overall in a field of nine, and the boys, who competed as an undermanned squad, finished 10th.

The highlights of the evening for the Cougars and Bulls were as follows:

• Cougar Daniel Pagan won the Boys High Jump competition as the only jumper to scrape 6 feet. GianCarlo DiFava was fifth and Kaden Jacques was seventh for Commack.
• Lady Bull Emma Cawley inched out Lady Cougar Marissa Mauro for second place in the 600-meter run. Cawley was two hundredths of a second ahead of Mauro. Northport’s Ella Cancro won first.
• Nicole Bransfield took silver in the 55-meter hurdles with a mark of 9.22 and Sofia Toepfer, Katheryn Vidulich and Isabella Guido took second, third and fourth in the Long Jump and Vidulich took the gold in High Jump as the only female athlete to reach 5 feet. Toepfer was third in the 300-meter race.
• Emma Cawley was fourth in 300 for Smithtown East.
• Three runners in the Boys 1600 — Vincent Guarino, Sam Byrd and Dylan Manning finished third, fourth and fifth in a field of 23.
• Freshman Ella Murphy was eighth out of 27 in preliminaries of the 55 Meter dash.
• Madeline Pettit won the 1500-meter race walk for the Lady Cougars.
• Smithtown East’s girls did well in the relays finishing third in the 4 x 200 and second in the 4 x 800.
• Julie Thomas won gold in the Girls Shot Put and Gabriella Barth took the bronze. Both are Commack seniors.
• Seville Louissaint was productive on both the Triple Jump and Long Jump, placing second and third, respectively. Angel Reyes and Connor Cherney were third and fifth in the Triple Jump for the Cougars.
• Commack had three runners in the top 10 of the Boys 600-meter. Philip Rosengarten was thrid, DiFava was seventh and Michael McClain was 10th in a field of 28.
• Junior Dester Cuomo was fifth in a field of 27 for the East Bulls in the Boys 1000-meter run.

Ward Melville

Both Ward Melville winter track teams also participated in the Section XI League II Championships Jan. 20. The boys team finished 5th in a field of 10, and the girls were 7th out of nine.

The highlights of the evening for the Patriots were many.

• Patriots Melina Montgomery took second place in the 1000-meter race won by Northport’s Katie Hayes
• Jon Seyfert finished fourth out of a field of 28 in the Boys 600-meter run
• The 4 x 400 girls team came in second to Commack. The Cougars not only won this race but won the entire girls side of the event.
• Brian Liebowitz was only three seconds behind Matt Armstrong of Huntington in the Boys 3200-meter run
• Preston Hickey was fourth in the shotput, one of only seven throwers who made 40 feet. Teddy Lorenzen also made the top 10 in a field of 22

Overall winners

The meet took place at the Suffolk Federal Union Arena on the campus of Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood. Connetquot was the overall boys champion with Commack second and Northport in third. For the girls, Commack finished on top of Connetquot with Northport again in third.

Commack’s Gitz gets Smithtown West

by Steven Zaitz - January 19, 2023

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The mighty have officially fallen.

The Commack Boys Basketball team did something nobody had been able to do so far this season – beat the Bulls of Smithtown High School West.

Led by senior guard Mike Gitz, the Cougars dominated the 4th quarter outscoring the Bulls 24-15, in what had been a tight game through three. The final was 68-57.

Gitz had 12 points in that final period, and it was the second time in two games that Commack dominated a 4th quarter to prevail against a quality league opponent. The Cougars beat the Northport Tigers 62-55 last Saturday in what was also a tight game until late.

With the win, Commack pulls into a tie for first place with Smithtown West, widely regarded as one of the top teams on Long Island, both with records of 10-1 in Conference I play. After dropping their opener to Bay Shore six weeks ago, the Cats have now won 10 in a row.

“The kids really executed the game plan tonight and hit some big shots,” said Commack Head Coach Peter Smith. “This was the first of four road games for us in what will be a tough stretch and I’m glad we started it with a huge win.”

Huge was the theme of the night, and herculean the task of containing Smithtown West Center Patrick Burke, who is 6 feet, 8 inches tall. Burke averages 20 points a game. Commack played a defense by committee against Burke with Cougar power forward Ethan Meisel in the role of committee chair.

“I went out there expecting a battle,” Meisel said. “I just kept focusing on keeping him (Burke) out of the paint. I watched a lot of film leading up to this game to learn what moves he would be looking to make and that helped me in stopping him.”

Burke had 19 points but only three in the 4th quarter.

“Ethan did a great job on Patrick,” Smith said. “But I think we played great help defense tonight, bringing over an off guard to try and keep him bottled up.”

Also bottled up, at least in the 1st half, was Cougar junior guard Nick Waga. Not because of great defense by the Bulls, but because he picked up two early fouls and Smith decided to let him sit.

But the fiery Waga started the 2nd half with a bang. With West leading 26-23, he came off a backdoor curl to hit a corner three and tie the game just 10 seconds into the 3rd quarter. That hoop was his first points of the game.

Waga would finish with 12 points in the quarter, the last three of which coming on a buzzer-beating three pointer to give Commack a 44-42 lead heading into the deciding fourth. He started and ended the period the same way — with long range bombs.

“I had fresh legs and wanted to bring a bunch of energy,” said the 6 foot, 1 inch tall Waga, whose black and blonde wavy coif make him easy to spot on the court. “My teammates motivated me not to put my head down when I was sitting in the first half and we all kept pushing each other to get this win.”

As it was Waga who had fresh legs in the third, it was Gitz who caught fire in the fourth. He hit a runner in the lane to start the period and on the next possession faked out his defender Lorenzo Rappa so badly that Rappa flew in the opposite direction and was absorbed by pick-setting Cougar Chris McHugh, as Gitz casually hit a wide-open three.

It gave the Cougars a seven-point lead and this move, that drew “oohs” and “aahs” from both Cougar and Bull fans alike, might have been the death blow to Smithtown West’s dreams of an undefeated season. With six and a half minutes remaining, the Bulls called a timeout as the buzz of the crowd was still loud enough to drown out West’s pep band.

“I work on that move a lot,” said Gitz, who led all scorers with 21. “I try to use jabs and pump fakes to get the defenders off balance. It was great to hear the crowd after making that play and both the basket and the crowd was a big swing of momentum for us.”

The momentum would stay with Commack, as West would never recover. The Cougar lead ballooned to 14 with three minutes remaining in the game when Gitz drove past Rappa in the lane for a layup.

The rest of the game rendered a formality, Commack gladly went to the free throw line to seal it, and for the second straight game, they closed out a quality conference foe and arch enemy.

“We stay true to our game plan and execute down the stretch,” said Gitz on his team’s ability finish off opponents. “Plus, I think we want it more.”

Now the Cougars truly have what they wanted – a victory over the number one ranked team in Suffolk County and first place in the league with six games to go. Is he thinking about meeting the Bulls in playoffs next month?

“We are going to enjoy this win tonight and focus on West Islip on Thursday,” Smith said. “The ship keeps on going forward and you hope for the best.”

On this night, Smith and his Cougars not only beat the best, but now find themselves in a position to merit consideration as the best.

Commack Cougars claw Northport Tigers

by Steven Zaitz - January 19, 2023

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The first three quarters of the Northport Tiger Boys basketball game, Commack had three completely distinct personalities.

The first quarter was essentially a standoff, as the Cougars won it by two. Commack dominated the second quarter, winning it by nine to take a commanding 32-21 lead into halftime.

But Northport made a huge third quarter charge, outscoring Commack 23-11 to take a skinny one-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the final quarter was all too similar to the second, as Commack — propelled by a strong finish that was led by junior guard Nick Waga — improves to 9-1 in the conference by beating Northport 62-55. They have won nine straight conference games and move into second place behind the undefeated Smithtown West Bulls.

Northport drops to 7-3 in the conference which is good for fourth place in League I. Coupled with last Thursday’s loss to Bay Shore, it was the first time the Tigers have lost back-to-back league games since February of 2019.

Waga led the Cougars 28 points including a huge three pointer with two and half minutes remaining in the game which broke a 52-52 tie. Senior guard Chris McHugh had 14 points and was two rebounds short of a double-double.

Senior swingman Brendan Carr led the Tigers with 22 points, hitting four shots from long range. Junior forward Owen Boylan had all 12 of his points on three pointers.

The Tigers had a non-league game on Sunday against Nassau County’s Sewanhaka, which they won 42-38 and resumed their league schedule against Lindenhurst on Tuesday, Jan 17, and won, 70-25.

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Steven Zaitz

Girls football teams prepare for season

Northport Girls join growing sport of flag football

Northport Tigers clawed by Whitman Wildcats

Commack Cougars caged by Brentwood

Down by 10 in second half, Commack Cougars roar back to beat Bulls, 48-43

Lady Tigers beat Pat-Med; advance to Suffolk semis

Northport outmuscles Centereach in opening round of playoffs

North Shore track teams compete in Section XI championships

Commack’s Gitz gets Smithtown West

Commack Cougars claw Northport Tigers

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