Sports

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Comsewogue had their hands full in their league IV season opener against West Babylon, where the Lady Warriors faced a stout defense resulting in several turnovers in the 58-28 loss at home Dec. 18. 

Jalyn Kirschenhucter was the bright spot for the Warriors scoring 3 triples, 4 field goals and a pair of free throws for 19 points. 

The Lady Warriors retake the court with a pair of road games against Hauppauge on Dec. 20 with a 4 o’clock start, and the following day against Eastport South Manor with a game time scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

— All photos by Bill Landon 

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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. 

Photo (left to right): Kacie Mulligan and Brittany Ferrante. The American Cancer Society offered two awards at the start of the season for Most Holes Played and Most Funds Raised. Brittany Ferrante of the Village Club of Sands Point played 280 holes on September 7th, 2021, securing the title of Most Holes Played. Kacie Mulligan of Southward Ho Country Club raised over $70,000 in her highly successful endeavor, securing title of Most Funds Raised.
$347,000 raised through golf marathons held in 2021

The American Cancer Society celebrates 16 golf professionals from 11 country clubs who participated in golf marathons this year, while raising $347,000 to support the mission of the American Cancer Society.

Meaning Behind Each Swing

The objective of  golf marathon participants is to play as many holes as possible from sunup to sundown while raising funds for the American Cancer Society. The pros chose dates from June through November.  The long stretch of hours and commitment are symbolic reminders of the challenges and difficulties faced by cancer patients and their families.  Several of this year’s golfers hosted marathons to honor loved ones affected by cancer, according to Megan Stewart of the American Cancer Society.

Cody Homer from Fresh Meadows Country Club dedicated the day to the memory of his mother, whom he lost to breast cancer.  Homer’s dedication and the generosity of the club membership led to a $30,000 donation to the American Cancer Society.  With sentiment for her dad who is bravely fighting cancer, Kacie Mulligan hit the Southward Ho course just weeks before her wedding in mid-November.  With her fiancé as caddy and parents in the gallery, she braved incredible fall winds and an early sunset to triumphantly finish her marathon.

Players and Awards

Brittany Ferrante

The American Cancer Society offered two awards at the start of the season for Most Holes Played and Most Funds Raised. Brittany Ferrante of the Village Club of Sands Point played 280 holes on September 7th, 2021, securing the title of Most Holes Played. Kacie Mulligan of Southward Ho Country Club raised over $70,000 in her highly successful endeavor, securing title of Most Funds Raised.

Participants this year include Wayne Leal and Sean Sanders of Muttontown Country Club;  Pat Gunning and John Stoklosa of Noyac Golf Club; Cody Homer of Fresh Meadows Country Club; Jimmy Farrell of Hamlet Golf and Country Club;  Alex Willey of Meadowbrook Club; Melissa Rath and Rich Burns of Brookville Country Club; Matt Livolsi and Zack Yashnyk of Cherry Valley Club; Brittany Ferrante of Village Club at Sands Point; Kacie Mulligan of Southward Ho Country Club; Tim Shifflett & Scott Ford of Glen Oaks Club.  Additionally, Jarett Leonard joined the Babes Against Cancer marathon up north in New England at Norton Country Club in MA.

Golf Marathons

Kacie Mulligan

The first golf marathon to support the Society’s cancer fighting mission on Long Island originated in 2019.  Matt Demeo, an assistant golf professional from the Indian Hills Country Club honored his mother’s battle with breast cancer and tested his ability to play as many holes and raise as many funds as he could. His efforts resulted in a $14,000 donation to the American Cancer Society.  In 2020, three individuals held golf marathons which helped to raise funds at a time when traditional fundraisers were on pause due to the restrictions in public gatherings due to COVID 19.  These golf marathons provided a safe, socially distant, and fun way to support the American Cancer Society. In 2021, the program greatly expanded, and 16 golf professionals joined the ranks.

To learn more or to participate in an upcoming American Cancer Society golf marathon, contact [email protected] or visit acsmove.org/GolfMarathon.

About The American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is on a mission to free the world from cancer. For more than 100 years, we have helped lead an evolution in the way the world prevents, detects, treats, and thinks about cancer. As the nation’s preeminent cancer-fighting organization, we fund and conduct research, share expert information, support people with cancer, spread the word about prevention, and through our advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), advocate for public policy change. We are committed to ensuring that ALL people have a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer – regardless of income, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or where they live. Thanks in large part to our decades of work, a cancer diagnosis does not come without hope, and the cancer journey is not one that is traveled alone.

Anthony Roberts. Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

Leading by as much as 18, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team earned its fourth win in five tries on Dec. 11, knocking off NEC foe Bryant 86-78 in front of 1,930 fans at Island Federal Arena. 

Anthony Roberts led five Seawolves in double figures with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting, including hitting a trio of triples. Tykei Greene was one off the Roberts team-high, sitting with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting. He finished with the same ratio at the free throw line.

After Bryant cut the lead to six with 8:57 left, the Seawolves rattled off a 16-4 run to build its largest lead at 18 with 3:41 to go in the half. The hosts made six of their eight shots during that span, including two of its three attempts from 3-point land and were able to force four Bryant turnovers.

In the second half, the Seawolves survived multiple attempts at a Bryant comeback, as the visitors brought the Stony Brook lead to three on multiple occasions but were never able to bring it even. Stony Brook used an 8-0 spurt over 88 seconds to extend its lead back to double digits at the midway mark of the half and held the distance the rest of the way.

“It was a really tough ball game. Bryant plays super fast, they race it down your throat, they play really hard… it’s a very good program. Our prep wasn’t great going into it with some of the same issues but give Bryant a bunch of credit with the guys they lost. They hung around the whole time and had a chance to steal the game. Great job for them and it was a great win for us,” said head coach Geno Ford.

“Every game is hard. Even when we have a lead, someone can cut it so we are showing we can be mentally tough and pull through these close, tough games and that’s definitely a positive going forward. Getting back in transition tonight was key for us because that was one thing that never stopped and I think we did a good job,” said Roberts.

It was the Huntington Blue Devils defense that kept the Bulls at bay at Smithtown High School East where East trailed 33-7 at the half time break. Huntington coasted in the second half to notch a 48-20 victory in the League III matchup Dec. 14.

Huntington senior forward Emily Plachta led the way for the Blue Devils with seven field goals a triple and three from the line for 20 points, teammates Gianna Forte banked nine and Junie Nosile battled in the paint for six points. Smithtown East juniors Darcy DeBenedittis and Josie Lent scored four points apiece for the Bulls.

The win lifts Huntington to 3-0 in league play, 6-0 overall. The loss drops Smithtown East to 1-2 in league, 1-4 overall. Both teams are back in action Dec. 17 when Smithtown East has a road game against Copiague at 4 p.m. and Huntington hosts Hills East with a 5 p.m. start.

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It was all Julia Greek for the Patriots in a League II matchup at home against Connetquot where the junior point guard hit four out of five three-pointers in the first eight minutes of play to put Ward Melville up 21 points. With a 30-point lead to open the fourth quarter, Ward Melville head coach Jamie Edson spelled his starters and flushed the Patriot bench, where 12 different plays scored in the 61-22 rout.

Greek tallied six treys, four field goals and a free throw for a team high 27 points in the Patriots’ league opener Dec 13. Ward Melville junior Gianna Hogan netted seven points, and seniore Siena Hart and freshman Emma Bradshaw banked four points apiece. The win lifts the Patriots to 1-0 in league 4-1 overall in this early season.

Ward Melville retakes the court with a road game against Lindenhurst Dec. 17 with a 5 p.m. start.

Sara Distefano

For the first time this season sophomore diver Sara DiStefano has been named America East Diver of the Week as announced by the conference office on Dec. 7. DiStefano takes home the honor after a strong performance in the Blue Devil Invite Dec. 4 and 5.

The sophomore earned two scoring finishes at the Blue Devil Invite to help propel Stony Brook to a first-place overall finish. DiStefano placed seventh overall in the 3-meter dive with a total score of 196.15. On Sunday, she finished with a final score of 200.05 in the 1-meter dive, which was good for a fifth-place overall finish in the finals.

The Stony Brook swimming and diving team is back in action on Jan. 22 when they hit the road to compete against Rider in Newark, N.J.

The team celebrates after Friday night's game Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

For the third time in its last four games, the Stony Brook University women’s basketball team (8-1) had at least four student-athletes score in double figures en route to a victory.

The Seawolves knocked off Penn (4-7), 75-69, on Dec. 10 inside Island Federal Arena behind the quartet of graduate forward India Pagan, junior guard Gigi Gonzalez, senior guard Earlette Scott, and graduate forward Leighah-Amori Wool all scoring in double-digits.

Pagan led the way with a season-high 20 points on an efficient 8-of-15 shooting from the floor as she dominated down low. Gonzalez finished the game with 14 points and did a bulk of her damage in the contest in the second half as she totaled nine points over the final 20 minutes. Scott and Wool each added 10 points apiece as they helped guide the Seawolves to their eighth victory of the season.

After a back and forth first half, Stony Brook used a 12-0 scoring run that carried over from the first half into the second to build its lead. The Seawolves were able to go ahead, 43-36, at the conclusion of the scoring spurt. Following that run, Stony Brook never looked back as it led for the remainder of the contest and secured its conference leading eighth win of the season.

The Seawolves’ lead grew to as large as 13 points in the fourth quarter as Gonzalez gave Stony Brook its biggest advantage of the game as she converted a driving layup with 6:35 to play. Penn responded and got within five points of the lead with 4:52 to play in the game, but the Seawolves were able to fend off the Quakers’ come-from-behind attempt.

“I’m proud of how we found a way to win – we were resilient today. We’ve had a lot of moving pieces and parts; I’m really glad that they locked in for 40 minutes and were able to be resilient, kept fighting, and found a way. I’m pleased to get a win right before we go on a long break. Overall, I’m just proud of the way they keep being resilient, growing, and pushing through all the adversity that we had,” said head coach Ashley Langford.

The Rocky Point Boy’s Lacrosse Program collected over 300 bags of clothes, shoes, blankets and other donations to support our local communities. 

Families of players from kindergarten to alumni dropped off donations to spread holiday cheer and to give back to the community that they care about.

Player volunteers who helped during collection included: Colton Feinberg , Kyle Moore, Will Levonick, Jack Fredriksen, Justin Hachmann, Keith Hilts, Nate Aiello, Brogan Casper, Dj Xavier, Brennan Protosow, John-Ryan Torreblanca, John Tringone and Mason Pina.

The project was organized by the Rocky Point Lacrosse Booster Club parents’ group.

Port Jeff senior forward Abigail Rolfe gets mugged down low in a non-league home game against Miller Place Dec 10. Photo by Bill Landon

Port Jefferson’s girls’ basketball squad, although short on roster depth with only seven players suited, are long on talent when the Royals made short work of Miller Place in a non-league home game with a 67-34 victory Dec. 10.

Junior point guard Lola Idir led the way for the Royals seeming to score three pointers at will, nailing seven treys a field goal and three from the free throw line for a team high of 28 points. 

Senior teammates Annie Maier hit two triples and six field goals for 18 points, and Abigail Rolfe banked 9. Miller Place seniors Emma LaMountain scored 14 and Lauren Molinaro netted 13.

The win lifts the Royals to 3-1 while Miller Place searches for that elusive first win in this early season.

— All photos by Bill Landon