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Mustangs will play Elmont in Class A Long Island championship March 11

Mount Sinai girls' basketball team captains Victoria Johnson, Veronica Venezia and Olivia Williams, along with their coaches, are presented the Section XI runner-up plaque. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Win or lose, Mount Sinai’s girls’ basketball team earned the right to represent Suffolk County in the Class A Long Island championship game. But first, Section XI bragging rights were on the line, and although the Mustangs led by as much as 12 points against Class AA winner Central Islip, the Buccaneers floored it in the final two minutes to come away with a 51-42 win.

Mount Sinai’s Gabriella Sartori battles in the paint. Photo by Bill Landon

“This is a game where we said to ourselves this is a good look for us,” Mount Sinai head coach Michael Pappalardo said. “[Central Islip] plays a similar style of basketball to [Nassau County’s] Elmont, with great defense. So we’ll go back to work, we’ll focus on getting back on defense and eliminating scoring the easy layups in transition. But I couldn’t be more proud of my girls and what they’ve accomplished this season.”

Central Islip jumped out to a 12-4 lead after five minutes of play at Suffolk County Community College’s Selden campus March 5, but the Mustangs scored four unanswered points to close the gap to four points, 12-8, at the end of the first quarter.

Senior center Veronica Venezia continued to do what she’s done all season, battling in the paint to score another putback, to pull within two before junior Olivia Williams followed with a putback of her own to tie the game, 12-12, with 2:46 left in the first half.

Mount Sinai sophomore Gabriella Sartori drove the lane and wasn’t taking no for an answer as she fought her way to the rim for the score that gave the Mustangs their first lead of the game. Despite Central Islip answering with a 3-pointer, Sartori followed it up with a baseline drive where she was fouled while scoring, and completed the three-point play. At halftime, Mount Sinai was up by three points,18-15.

Mount Sinai’s Vernoica Venezia and Olivia Williams reach for possession. Photo by Bill Landon

Sartori opened the second half like she finished the first, driving to the basket for back-to-back scores. Senior Victoria Johnson banked two points and Venezia also added a bucket from the paint. The referees called a tight game, and both teams traded points from the charity stripe. At the end of the eight minutes, Mount Sinai was still protecting a three-point lead, 36-33.

Central Islip scored back-to-back field goals to retake the lead for the first time since the opening quarter, but Venezia found the rim from down low to pull within one point, 42-41, but Mount Sinai would come no closer.

Central Islip edged ahead slowly, leaning on the shot clock, which forced Mount Sinai to foul. The Buccaneers continued to make each opportunity count, edging ahead point by point until time expired.

“Although we could’ve not fouled and lost by three or four, we were trying to go for the win and I’m proud of my girls,” Pappalardo said. “We can play with anybody and you can see that.”

Who goes home with the Long Island championship title will be decided March 11, when Mount Sinai takes on Elmont at SUNY Old Westbury at noon.

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School district staff fight for bragging rights while raising money for booster club

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Mount Sinai Middle School physical education teacher Tracy Carron shoots the ball between Mount Sinai High School science teacher Gina Sing and Director of Math, Science and Technology Andy Matthews. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai High School Assistant Principal and Director of Guidance, Matt Dyroff, grabs a rebound. Photo by Bill Landon
Brandon Loomis, a physical education substitute teach and track and field coach soars over Mount Sinai High School science teacher Gina Sing. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai varsity boys' basketball coach Ryan McNeely scores on a layup. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai Elementary School first grade teacher Eileen Poerio drives around Mount Sinai High School substitute physical education teach and track and field coach Brandon Loomis. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai students lines up to take a shot during the halftime shooting contest. Students paid $1 a shot, and earned $5 for every basket made. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai students lines up to take a shot during the halftime shooting contest. Students paid $1 a shot, and earned $5 for every basket made. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai students lines up to take a shot during the halftime shooting contest. Students paid $1 a shot, and earned $5 for every basket made. Photo by Bill Landon
Students line up for halftime snacks. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai students lines up to take a shot during the halftime shooting contest. Students paid $1 a shot, and earned $5 for every basket made. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai students lines up to take a shot during the halftime shooting contest. Students paid $1 a shot, and earned $5 for every basket made. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai Middle School physical education teacher Tracy Carron shoots from the free-throw line. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai High School substitute physical education teach and track and field coach Brandon Loomis places the ball in the basket. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai High School science teacher Gina Sing drives to the rime past Mount Sinai Elementary School fourth grade teacher Kevin Walsh. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai Elementary School kindergarten teacher Allison Maire looks to make a pass. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai Middle School's Melissa Drewisis shows her winning form. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai Elementary School fourth grade teacher Kate Conrad shoots. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai physical education teacher and varsity boys' soccer coach Dave Herrschaft drives the lane and scores. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai High School science teacher Gina Sing scores a field goal. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's Suffolk County champion girls' basketball team comes out the watch faculty duke it out during the Battle of the Educators. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's black and gray teams high five one another following the Battle of the Educators basketball game. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Mount Sinai school district faculty members were pitted against each other March 3 in the Battle of the Educators. Teachers laced up their sneakers and grabbed a ball, donning black shirts on the middle school side, and gray on the elementary/high school team, for the 16th annual basketball game that raises money for the Mount Sinai Booster Club.

Mount Sinai High School Assistant Principal and Director of Guidance Matt Dyroff, who is the event’s organizer, said the week of practice each team had leading up to the game paid off. In the first quarter, each team traded points until the black team hit a triple to retake the lead, 28-27, before going on a scoring frenzy to take a 10-point lead, 37-27, into the halftime break.

“We do it for our booster club because they do so many things not only for our sports teams, but any other thing we ask their help with they’re more than willing to donate for the cause.”

—Matt Dyroff

“We’ve been practicing hard,” Dyroff said. “A couple of outdoor practices in the cold, but the teams got down to work — they buckled down and it was evident in the score tonight.”

Dyroff had a lot of help with the event from Mount Sinai Booster Club member Terese Lumley, the student council members who volunteered their time to help out, and Mount Sinai High School earth science teacher Roger Cardo, who took care of the play-by-play commentary.

With a $5 admission fee and $1 charge to compete in the halftime shooting contest, Dyroff said he hoped the event cold exceed last year’s $3,000 raised, and as students lined both sides of the court to take part in the shooting contest, it seemed the goal may very well be met.

“Each year we’re hoping to improve on the previous year, and preliminary amounts suggest that we’ve approached $4,000 tonight,” Dyroff said. “We do it for our booster club because they do so many things not only for our sports teams, but any other thing we ask their help with they’re more than willing to donate for the cause. No matter what it is.”

Celebrity spectators, in the form of the first-time county championship girls’ basketball team, had fun watching their teachers take the court.

“It’s a fun time, and everyone comes together to watch the game,” senior point guard Victoria Johnson. “Everyone can joke around take trick shots. It’s all for fun, and that’s the best part of it.”

“Everyone comes together to watch the game. … It’s all for fun, and that’s the best part of it.”

—Victoria Johnson

There were no trick shots down the stretch though, as both teams battled through the final 25 minutes of play. The gray team shook off the first-half jitters and chipped away at the deficit to retake the lead, 62-61, with less than two minutes left in the game. The black team battled back to take a three-point lead in the final 10 seconds of the game, but the gray team had one last possession.

With the ball in hand, Mount Sinai boys’ basketball head coach Ryan McNeely took matters into his own hands when Dyroff inbounded him the ball, and McNelly let a three-point shot fly with 2.3 seconds on the clock. The ball rimmed out as the buzzer sounded, and with that, the middle school held on for a 67-64 win, to claim the championship trophy for the second year in a row.

Senior center Veronica Venezia said the event was a much-needed respite while she and her Mustangs team prepares for the Long Island championship against Nassau County’s Elmont March 11 at SUNY Old Westbury.

“It’s definitely a fun night watching everyone come out and play — all of the teachers and their families and a lot of people coming out to join our community,” she said. “It’s a good breather — especially because it’s a basketball game — it’s a great night watching our coaches play against each other.”

After the game, Dyroff weighed in on the girls’ unprecedented success this season.

“Going to the Long Island championship is tremendous,” he said. “The district and the community have been so supportive of it. The girls have put in so much time and it’s come to fruition. The off-season workouts, the summer leagues, the spring leagues, getting out to play — this group has progressed each year and to see it culminate in a county championship is huge.”

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Astrid Sprigman slides down the mountain during the Butternut race in Massachusetts. Photo from Jason Sprigman

Two young Stony Brook skiers are making names for themselves in the competitive skiing world, but competition is only part of the draw.

Sam and Astrid Sprigman have been sliding down the slopes for four years now, and although for the pair it’s mainly for fun, their competitive races have been paying dividends. Most recently, at the Otis Slalom Interclub race in Massachusetts, 13-year-old Sam placed third, while 8-year-old Astrid finished atop the podium.

“It feels good,” Astrid said of claiming the top spot. “Half the time I don’t even notice what happened or what my time is until my mom or dad come up to me and shout, ‘You’re in first.’”

Sam Sprigman bends his way down a hill. Photo from Jason Sprigman

Their father Jason Sprigman said those families who take part in the Tri-State Interclub ski season are part of a tight-knit community that is very supportive of one another.

“They’re screaming and yelling, banging drums and shaking cowbells and it’s incredible — she doesn’t even hear it,” he said of his daughter. “She comes down and starts critiquing her own performance, saying, ‘I don’t know, that didn’t feel that good. I think my turn on the fourth gate wasn’t that tight.’ And then I tell her, ‘you’re in first place Astrid, really?’ She’s so in her own world.”

The smooth skier said she’s always working on improving her technique, In fact, that’s all she focuses on while competing.

“I think about when I have to turn and thinking about my body position, making sure my head’s up instead of down and I’m always looking ahead,” she said.

That’s what she’s done since she first traveled around a mountain. Astrid said she recalls pulling on her father’s jacket asking to go on different trails during a family trip.

“When I see them doing what they’re doing and working so incredibly hard at an individual sport like this … it’s amazing to see them apply themselves in such a focused manner.”

— Jason Sprigman

“We went on the bunny slope and we were at the top of the hill and I said, ‘This is boring. I want to go on something more exciting,’” Astrid said.

Her father laughed remembering the moment.

“No patience this one,” he said.

Her brother was also hooked at a young age. Sam’s earliest ski trip was at 18 months old, when his family was in California.

“My dad and I were getting ready to go down the hill and he put me between his legs so he could guide me down the hill,” Sam said. “I looked up at him and said, ‘Dad, can you let go? I got this.’”

He said he didn’t ski for some time after that. His father was in the Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before Sam finally hit the slopes again.

“I remembered having a really good time skiing and it stuck with me all those years,” Sam said.

He too echoed his sister’s sentiment about being focused on improving. He said in reality, with all of the support, they’re their own harshest critics.

“When I’m in a race — when I’m at the top of the course — my instructor is there and I ask her what we talked about and what I need to work on, and I think about that my whole way through,” he said. “If I have a bad run, or Astrid had a bad run, the hardest person on us is ourselves. Everyone there is so supportive.”

The thing is, Astrid actually hasn’t had a bad run. The Under-12 competitor has placed first in every race she’s competed in this season — though she had to miss one because she was sick.

Astrid and Sam Sprigman display their trophies. Photo from Jason Sprigman

“You can’t ski race if you’re not 100 percent,” Sprigman said. “If you come around a turn doing 50 to 55 MPH, if you suddenly get a little bit nauseous that could be dangerous. She wanted to compete, but I just couldn’t let her. Besides the illness though, she’s taken first by a wide margin in every single race.”

Sam, a 5-foot, 10-inch, muscular skier placed third in the first competition of the season, at Butternut, came in seventh in Catamount and fifth at Otis Slalom. Last season, he qualified to be a part of the Piche Invitational, a Massachusetts state team, but the team didn’t have a slot this season. Astrid qualified to compete this year.

“There’s a wide number of kids that are moving on to higher levels of skiing from his year.” Sprigman said of his son’s Under-14 age bracket. “It’s one of the most competitive age groups in the Northeast. It’s an accomplishment the placements he’s been able to get. I’m very proud of him.”

The pair have one race left, at Bosque Mountain in Massachusetts March 5.

Sprigman said he enjoys the family aspect of the sport, being able to ski alongside his children, as compared to watching them on the sidelines during a football or soccer game. He said his main goal is to give them an ability they can carry with them for the rest of their lives, and now they’ll just continue to ski as long as they’re having fun.

“A lot of people might not let their kids participate in a sport like this because it’s fairly high risk, but they have a high degree of confidence and they understand the risk involved, and do a really good job of weighing them out and skiing appropriately,” he said. “When I see them doing what they’re doing and working so incredibly hard at an individual sport like this and I see my son really aggressively attacking a hill and putting it all out there and my daughter bending herself over backward to take an extra half a second off her time, it’s amazing to see them apply themselves in such a focused manner … It feels really good to see them not only becoming great skiers, but making amazing friendships while engaging in a fairly high level of competition.”

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Greg Giordano moves the ball around a Bay Shore opponent. Photo by Desirée Keegan

By Desirée Keegan

Smithtown West will have a long offseason to swallow another early, albeit familiar playoff loss.

After finishing last season in the Suffolk County boys’ basketball Class AA semifinals, the Bulls were hoping to take it a step further.

Michael Gannon hurriedly looks to make a pass. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The team wanted a county title, but Bay Shore had other ideas in mind. Both years, as the No. 4 seed, Smithtown West found itself up against the top dog. Last year, the Bulls had trouble controlling a tough Brentwood team, losing 61-49. This time around, the team may have fallen behind early, but picked it back up to make it a close contest, falling this time in a close 66-59 battle Feb. 25 at Stony Brook University.

“We’ve been going for a long time,” Smithtown West head coach Mike Agostino said. “It’s more than just a season, it’s a 12-month commitment. Losing here, to this team, is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just unfortunate that they were a little bit better today.”

The Bulls, who went undefeated in League III to claim their second straight conference title, fell behind 20-10 at the end of the first, despite senior Gordon Shouler swishing two 3-pointers in the opening quarter. By halftime, the deficit grew slightly, with the Marauders holding a 36-24 advantage.

Chris Crespo shoots from the free-throw line. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“They were hitting their shots and we weren’t,” junior Michael Gannon said. “They started off hitting three after three and jump shot after jump shot. And after the first quarter their shots weren’t really falling but at that point they had a good lead.”

Junior Chris Crespo took matters into his own hands to get the Bulls back in the game. He banked two shots from beyond the arc, a field goal and a free throw in the third quarter. Senior Kyle LaGuardia added two buckets to help the Bulls close the gap to 50-43 after eight minutes.

“Bay Shore was a tough team — no doubt about it,” Crespo said. “Very aggressive, and a good matchup for us I thought. What changed was we were getting stops defensively, and those stops turned to baskets, which gave us a huge momentum push.”

Senior Greg Giordano had the hot hand in the fourth, swishing two foul shots and scoring on a jumper before a field goal brought his team within four points, 55-51, its closest score since the first, and as close as the Bulls would come for the remainder of the game.

“The game was unlike any game I’ve ever played before,” Giordano said. “Especially at the end when the game was out of reach with a few seconds left, it just hit me that this is the last game I will play in a Smithtown West uniform, and that was just such an emotional feeling.”

Kyle LaGuardia makes a leaping cross-court pass catch. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Although the senior standout will be moving on after this year, he said he’s honored to be a part of some big Bulls moments.

“I have grown up right next to Smithtown West, and when I was in elementary school, I went to all the booster camps, would see the older guys and hoped that one day I could be like them,” he said. “It has been a dream come true to not only play for Smithtown West, but to be able to cement our team’s legacy with two numbers on the banner. I wouldn’t trade my playing experience for anything.”

Despite graduating nine major contributors, Smithtown West’s two scoring leaders in the loss, Crespo and Gannon, will return next season. Crespo finished with a team-high 18 points with four 3-pointers, and Gannon was close behind with 15.

“It was a testament to these guys, because we pulled within four at one point, and they kept battling — I’m proud of them,” Agostino said. “This wasn’t our goal, but I’m not disappointed in them at all. We wanted better results, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. They’re gladiators, and they fought tooth and nail to their last breath.”

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Mount Sinai's girls' basketball team celebrates the program's first-ever Suffolk County championship title. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's Victoria Johnson reaches for the rim. Photo by Bill Landon
Harborfields' Christiana de Borja shoots from the free-throw line. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's Gabriella Sartori jumps to the basket. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's Vernoica Venezia shoots over a block attempt. Photo by Bill Landon
Harborfields' Kate Tardo banks a bucket. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's Victoria Johnson shoots through traffic. Photo by Bill Landon
Harborfields' Christiana de Borja reaches for the rim. Photo by Bill Landon
Harborfields' Falyn Dwyer leaps for the layup. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's Brooke Cergol drives to the basket. Photo by Bill Landon
Mount Sinai's girls' basketball team outscored Harborfields 54-42 for the Mustangs' first Suffolk County championship crown in school history. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Four of the five starters on Mount Sinai’s girls’ basketball team helped the soccer squad score its first Suffolk County title last fall. This winter, the Mustangs brought those winning ways from the field to the court.

Winning has become a tradition at Mount Sinai. The Mustangs went nearly undefeated in League VI play, going on a 17-game streak before a 44-33 loss to Shoreham-Wading River. Despite that, Mount Sinai was able to grab a piece of the league title for the first time in school history. Then, the road to the Class A finals began.

The Mustangs crushed Bayport-Blue Point 91-48 before outscoring Sayville 68-54. The No. 1 seed ultimately found itself up against a familiar foe in No. 2 Harborfields. The two schools had also faced off as the top-seeded teams during the Suffolk soccer finals, and, in front of a near-capacity crowd of 500 at Riverhead High School Feb. 24, Mount Sinai pulled away with another crucial win, 54-42, for its second county crown of the school year.

“Our defense was the key in getting stops and rebounding, and turning those into points.”

—Veronica Venezia

For seniors Victoria Johnson and Veronica Venezia, the win was a long time coming personally and for the program.

“It feels amazing to be Suffolk County champions — Veronica and I have been on the team since eighth grade, so we started a long time ago,” said Johnson, who scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half. “Back then we didn’t win many games, and here we are — it’s a dream come true.”

Sophomore Gabriella Sartori had the hot hand in the first quarter, scoring 10 of her team-high 18 points. First, she swished a free throw to successfully complete a three-point play, and hit a shot from beyond the arc soon after to help her team double its opponent’s score with an 18-9 lead at the end of eight minutes. She also added six rebounds and two assists in the win.

“From the beginning of the season I just wanted to play at this level,” she said. “I’ve been with this group since the seventh grade and to reach this point and watch this team grow is just amazing.”

Behind 31-19 heading into the locker room, Harborfields head coach Glenn Lavey said the 12-point deficit put his team in unfamiliar territory.

“Spotting them a lead like that is not our style — we’re kind of a running football team if you will — we’re not a spread offense,” he said. “We had some breakdowns in the first eeight minutes of the game and we didn’t execute some things we needed to early.”

“I’ve been with this group since the seventh grade and to reach this point and watch this team grow is just amazing.”

—Gabriella Sartori

Despite the lead, Mount Sinai head coach Michael Pappalardo said he warned his team that the Tornadoes weren’t going to run out of steam that easily.

“Harborfields, they’re aggressive,” he said. “We told the girls this is going to be close. You don’t think that team is going to let you walk out of here giving you the championship.”

Harborfields senior Grace Zagaja scored on a putback, and teammate Kate Tardo hit a long-distance shot in the third, but Mount Sinai’s defense swarmed.

With 10 seconds left in the quarter, Johnson went to the line and sank both to make it a 10-point game, but Harborfields senior Falyn Dwyer came through with a buzzer-beating triple that helped her team cut the deficit to 40-33.

With just over four minutes left in regulation, Venezia came up with another putback (she finished with a double-double on 12 points and 15 rebounds) to re-extend the Mustangs’ lead, 45-36.

“They’re definitely a challenge — they always have been the past years we’ve played them,” Venezia said of Harborfields. “But our defense was the key in getting stops and rebounding, and turning those into points.”

Tardo, who tied with Dwyer for eight points, drained her second triple of the contest to make it a six-point game. Two minutes later, eighth-grader Madison Brady (seven points) picked off an in-bounds pass, went straight to the rim for the score and made it a four-point game, 45-41, with 3:10 left to play.

After Harborfields missed its final five shots from the field, Johnson went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 31 seconds to put the win in the record book.

“It is ironic to win back-to-back titles against Harborfields — they’re a great team, but we worked really hard to be here.”

—Brooke Cergol

“We always talk about it in practice in every game — everyone’s going to have their ups and downs,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to be prepared for both. We had to fight our way through adversity to get here.”

Also on the championship-winning soccer team besides Johnson, Sartori and junior Olivia Williams, was sophomore Brooke Cergol, who rounded out the scoring with eight points.

“It feels amazing — especially after soccer,” she said. “It is ironic to win back-to-back titles against Harborfields — they’re a great team, but we worked really hard to be here. It was crazy, it was a really tense situation, but we pulled together.”

Mount Sinai moves on to face Mattituck for the Small School champion title at Suffolk County Community College Brentwood Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. The winner will face off against the Class AA qualifier for the Section XI title. That game will be played at Suffolk’s Selden campus March 5 at 5 p.m.

Regardless of the outcome of those games, Mount Sinai has the opportunity for another first, when the Mustangs take on the Section VIII Class A champion March 11 at SUNY Old Westbury at noon for the Long Island title.

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Courtney Lewis drives the baseline. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Although the small school matchup may not hold much postseason weight, you couldn’t tell, as Port Jefferson and Mattituck’s girls’ basketball teams duked it out for the third time this year.

Jillian Colucci scores from beyond the arc. Photo by Bill Landon

Each had grabbed a win over the other in the regular season, but this time, the larger school prevailed as the Suffolk County Class B champion bounced back in the game’s final minutes to edge out its Class C rival, 58-54, Feb. 24 at Riverhead High School.

Scoring stalwart Courtney Lewis did what she’s done all season, as the 2,000-plus-career point scorer led her team with 29 points — the only Royal in double figures.

The senior sank two from the foul line to retie the game at 25-25 with 2:12 left in the first half, and classmate Jillian Colucci hit a field goal to retie the game at 29-29, but Mattituck 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Tuckers a 32-29 lead.

“We knew who their good players were and we knew how they pressed and the plays that they run,” Lewis said. “I think that we prepared as well as we could have.”

She went back to work driving the lane and muscling her way to the basket drawing foul after foul, scoring 11 points from the charity stripe on the afternoon. Colucci hit a 3-pointer, followed by freshman Samantha Ayotte, for a five-point lead at the 3:15 mark of the third.

Corinne Scannell shoots from the free-throw line. Photo by Bill Landon

During the final eight minutes, senior Corinne Scannell scored back-to-back field goals and Colucci sank her second trey of the game for the Royals to remain in control, 49-42. Both teams trade points at the free-throw line, but momentum shifted Mattituck’s way. Junior Liz Dwyer scored seven of the team’s nine straight points to take a 53-51 edge.

Again, both teams were back at the charity stripe with seconds on the clock, but Mattituck made more of its opportunities to give the game its final score.

Despite the loss, Port Jefferson will take on East Rockaway in the Class C Long Island championship semifinals March 6 at SUNY Old Westbury at 5 p.m.

“I think that with the group of girls that we have here — with the athleticism that’s on the court — we always have a shot in a close game like that,” Port Jeff head coach Jessie Rosen said. “But to have the type of scorer that Courtney is — and she can take over a game at any point — having that as a coach you always appreciate that. We had faith that we could grind it out, but Mattituck wound up on top tonight.”

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Chris Crespo moves the ball along the sideline. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Yes, you can call it a comeback.

Everything the Smithtown West boys’ basketball team had worked for led to this moment. The Bulls were faced with adversity for what seemed to be the first time all season, but they wanted to be one of just two teams to make it back to the Final 4 for a second consecutive year. Up against another league leader Feb. 21, head coach Mike Agostino said he might not have had the right game plan.

Gerg Giordano muscles his way to the basket. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“They were really well-coached, well-prepared,” he said of No. 5-seeded and League IV leader Deer Park. “We might not have had it right, but we found a way to survive.”

No. 4 Smithtown West fell behind, and fast, losing the lead at the two-minute mark of the first quarter, and didn’t’ regain it until the fourth. In the end, junior Chris Crespo’s eight fourth-quarter points, junior Michael Gannon’s six and senior Greg Giordano’s five gave the Bulls its 50-47 come-from-behind win.

“Inside their heart and what they’re made of, it’s bigger than coaching,” Agostino said. “These kids have character, and they’re not afraid of the big moment. They’re going to go out and challenge anyone and every time they play it’s a full effort.”

On paper, it may look like Smithtown West had an easy road, going undefeated in League III and coming into the Class AA quarterfinals with a 20-1 record.

Giordano and senior Nick Ferolito gave the team a 4-0 lead after both teams went scoreless for most of the first three minutes. At the six-minute mark, a Deer Park field goal and 3-pointer put the team out front 9-5.

By halftime, the Bulls’ four-point deficit grew to six, 23-17, but the team was in as deep as an eight-point hole when a technical following a field goal gave Deer Park three more chances to grab points. The team hit two of three free throws for a 15-7 advantage with 7:20 left in the second.

Kyle LaGuardia leaps to the rim. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“We were down the whole game, we were fighting back the whole time, but we all had each other’s backs,” said Giordano, who scored a game-high 22 points. “Coach kept telling us to stick to our game plan, eventually our shots were going to fall, and they did. We played good defense and that kept us in the game.”

Smithtown West chipped away at the lead with four different players lighting up the scoreboard, but Deer Park continued to have an answer. With 1:39 left in the third, another 3-pointer put Deer Park ahead 30-23, but a Giordano 3-pointer, Kyle LaGuardia layup and a floater by Giordano closed the gap, 32-30, at the end of the eight minutes.

Crespo opened the fourth quarter with a game-tying bucket, and the crowd erupted.

“It feels great not just for the team, but the community, too,” he said. “A lot of them are backing us here.”

The game would then be decided largely at the free-throw line.

Gannon made two at the 5:56 mark to give his team its first lead since the game’s opening minutes. Deer Park quickly tied the game, but Crespo came through again. He scored eight of his 11 points in the final stanza and also finished with seven assists.

“It was a hard-fought battle,” Crespo said. “Despite being down we always feel confident. We don’t feel rushed. We’re not frustrated or out of our element. We know that if we play within ourselves we know we’ll get good results.”

ichael Gannon prepares to make a pass. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Giordano added two free throws for a four-point lead with 35.9 seconds, 46-42, and Deer Park called timeout after timeout to try to find plays to score. All the team could muster was one free throw, and the Bulls were back to the line to add to its lead. Again, Gannon sank both of his opportunities with 12.5 seconds left in regulation to give the Bulls more breathing room.

“I’ve taken 1,000 free throws in my life, so hitting a few, I felt confident about knocking them down,” he said. He scored all six of his points in the third quarter, all from the charity stripe. He closed out the game making two more with 4.8 seconds on the clock.

“When you sit down in the beginning of the season, you know Stony Brook is at the end of a long road,” Agostino said. “Now, to finally get there, it’s really exciting.”

The Bulls will take on the No. 1 seed in the semifinals for the second straight year. They’ll face Bay Shore at Stony Brook University Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m.

Giordano said for now he’s soaking in the moment. He said the team is excited to get back to where they lost last year.

“It was surreal — this is the last game on my Smithtown West home court and it was amazing to see all the guys come together and be able to make some big plays at the end to come out with the win,” he said. “It shows with the group of guys we have — we’re all so tight, so close, we all work in practice each day — how much we can pick each other up in times like these.”

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John Daly, center, smiles on the medal podium. Photo from John Daly.

By Daniel Dunaief

This weekend, Smithtown-native John Daly’s comeback to the fast-paced world of skeleton takes an enormous step forward. He will compete against the best in the world as a member of Team USA in Koeningsee, Germany, at the World Championships.

Daly decided near the beginning of the sliding season to attempt a comeback from a sport that had been a staple of his life from 2001 until 2014.

Just to get back to this point, Daly had to earn enough points in the junior circuit to qualify. He set a goal of collecting medals and earning points. He scored three golds and a silver in North American Cup races and then topped that off with a gold and a silver in the Intercontinental Cup in Lake Placid.

Mission accomplished, so far. If he wins a medal either in Germany or in another race the next week in South Korea, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Daly will continue his ascent toward claiming a spot on his third Olympic team.

Just six months ago, however, a return to a sport he left in disappointment after a difficult ending in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, wasn’t at the top of his mind.

Daly’s father, James Daly, awards his son with a medal. Photo from John Daly.

When he was going out on dates in Washington, D.C., where he got a job in medical sales for Smith & Nephew, he had a hard time answering questions about what he was passionate about outside of work.

“Nothing got my gears going,” he recalled. “That was when I was like, ‘Maybe I do miss it.’”

At first, Daly, who is now 31, dipped his toe in the water, driving up to his home track of Lake Placid and doing a few trial runs before other sliders raced.

“I came back and I felt like I never left,” Daly said. When he asked himself what was holding him back, he didn’t have a good answer.

Getting back into shape and training required extensive driving, as Daly regularly made a nine-hour trek from Washington up to Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Miracle on Ice U.S. Men’s Hockey Team. He was grateful to his family for supporting him and to his bosses at Smith & Nephew.

During those long drives in the car, he listened to music, made phone calls with his Bluetooth and tried to stretch out. Coming back, he knew the level of effort he needed to achieve to be successful.

“No matter what, every week, I had to be faster and stronger,” he told himself. “You have to know the other guys are doing it.”

While he’s found his groove, the return to the sport hasn’t been a picnic.

“Age has kicked in,” he laughed. He takes ice baths to ease the body aches. Those, he said, can be miserable, particularly on his ankles and toes.

Daly’s parents, James and Bennarda, are happy to see their son return to the sport on his terms. In 2014, Daly was in contention for a medal at the Olympics in Sochi. At the start of his final heat, his sled popped out of the ice grooves, robbing him of precious time he couldn’t possibly make up, turning the final run into one of the most emotionally draining trips of his life.

After the Olympics, he retired, leaving the international sports stage.

“The last time you compete in the Olympics should be your best part of the Games. No matter what, if you win, lose or draw, you want to take in that last run. This is it, this is forever.”
— John Daly

“His world came crashing down,” Jesse Lichtenberg, Daly’s agent at BDA Sports Management said. Lichtenberg said Daly packed everything up in Lake Placid, put it in a box and threw it in the trunk of his car.

However, Lichtenberg and Daly’s family suspected this wasn’t the last chapter in Daly’s sliding career.

Indeed, Daly’s father, who is a retired EMS worker for the New York City Fire Department, continued to be a racing official for USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.

He thought, “Let me wait a couple of years, in case John has second thoughts,” the elder Daly said. “I’m glad I did. It’s so great to officiate a match that my son is in.”

Indeed, when Daly recently won a gold medal, his father got to put the award around his son’s neck.

His father believes Daly benefited from his time away from the sport, especially because it gave him some balance in his life.

“He needed to know he could go out and make a living after skeleton,” he said.

Now that his son is back on the track, he watches and he said his “heart starts to beat faster” as his son waits for a green light that signals the beginning of a race in which he runs for about five seconds before diving, headfirst, onto a sled he steers at over 80 miles an hour around curved, icy tracks.

Bennarda Daly, meanwhile, said she’s “excited and a little anxious” at the same time. “When he returned from Russia, he was different,” she said. “It wasn’t because he didn’t win.” Popping out of the groove kept him from “getting closure.”

Daly’s mom said she noticed that he hadn’t talked about sliding for the last few years, which she said was “odd” for him. “It was like it never happened. He had to close that off.”

Bennarda Daly, who is a nurse, said she doesn’t need her son to win a medal at the World Championships or at the Olympics.

“If he comes out happy and feels like it went well, I’ll be ecstatic,” she said.

As for Daly, he knows, even if he makes the Olympics next year, that he wants to walk away on his own terms.

“The last time you compete in the Olympics should be your best part of the Games,” he said. “No matter what, if you win, lose or draw, you want to take in that last run. This is it, this is forever.”

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Mount Sinai wrestlers Matt Campo, Mike Sabella, Robert Christ, Joe O’Brien and Jason Shlonsky with their Suffolk County championship brackets. Photo from Karen Campo

Robert Christ’s story is one head coach Matt Armstrong will be telling for a long time.

In the senior’s first two seasons on Mount Sinai’s wrestling team, the 285-pound grappler didn’t win a single match. Now, he’s a county champion.

Christ was one of five Mustangs to grab gold last weekend at the Suffolk County Division II championship at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.

Christ looked to his coaches for guidance, knowing they’d been to the county and state tournaments, but according to Armstrong, his wrestler deserves all of the credit.

Campo maintains control over an opponent during a previous match. Photo by Bill Landon

“We pointed to him all season as an example of what wrestling and sports are all about — through hard work you can achieve anything,” Armstrong said. “The fact that he’s doing as well as he is — it’s a great story. It shows if you don’t like where you are, just work harder and you can achieve great things. He’s in a 285-pound weight class when he weighs 220 pounds, so he’s given up a lot, but nobody works harder than him.”

Christ won his qualifying match 1-0, edged out his semifinal competitor 1-0 and claimed a 3-0 decision over his final opponent of the tournament.

Although he’d faced his semifinal competitor before, he came out tougher than Christ expected, but the finals match was what had him on edge.

“The first match was at 9 a.m. and I had to wait until 8 p.m. that night for my finals match, thinking about it the entire time,” he said. “I remember being out there wrestling — I couldn’t believe I was on that mat. I was nervous, I didn’t want to mess up, but I tried not to let the nerves get to me. To pull away with the win was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in sports. You put in so much time and effort into one thing and after so many months and years to finally have it pay off was awesome.”

Christ was new to the county stage, and so was teammate Mike Sabella.

A sophomore, the 182-pounder was one of the youngest on the team to take the trip upstate. Freshman Matt Campo also finished atop the podium.

“I’ve learned how to overcome my obstacles and win big matches, and that’s due in part to our great seniors who are really good role models for the underclassmen.”

—Matt Campo

Sabella was overwhelmed by the enormous crowd he was going to compete in front of, but made his way through his qualifier round and semifinal matchup with pins in the first and second period.

“Getting those pins reassured me that I was in the tournament for a reason,” he said. “Knowing I was facing some of the best kids in the county was a confidence booster.”

Campo also came away with three pins in the tournament. For the 113-pounder, who has been on the team since seventh grade, making weight was the hardest part of the two-day tournament.

“Our team is really tough,” said Campo, who was a league champion last year. “I wrestle guys who are usually stronger than me, so I have to out-technique them. I’ve learned how to overcome my obstacles and win big matches, and that’s due in part to our great seniors who are really good role models for the underclassmen.”

Sabella can relate to that. He worked primarily with one of the team’s leaders, Jason Shlonsky, who was the Champion of Champions at the tournament and had the most pins in the least amount of time.

“I usually wrestle defensively, and he’s a goon on offense, so whenever Jay would try to shoot, I would try to find a way to defend it,” Sabella said. “Knowing he was a very good wrestler — wrestling him for the last couple of months got me really ready for counties. I went in with the mindset that I should be winning.”

He credits the work he put in with Shlonsky as the reason he won his finals match — a 3-2 decision.

“I’d wrestled the kid before and he knew what I was doing, so it was hard to get the shots I wanted,” he said. “I had to switch to some different moves, which is where wrestling with Jay all year helped me.”

Shlonsky said he’s learned just as much from Sabella as his teammate did from him.

Shlonsky has his arm raised following his win. Photo from Karen Campo

“He and I got really close throughout the season and we both helped each other out,” he said. “We have different styles, so learning how to work with those different styles was important for both of us.”

The Champion of Champions was an ideal Mustang for Sabella to pair with. Although he took a year off from wrestling his junior year, the 170-pounder went 28-0 in his final season, with 25 wins coming from pins. Although he said he tries not to focus on winning or losing, he said that did play a factor in his first qualifying match, which earned him his 100th career win.

“I tried to keep a level head and focus on what I do best, rather than my opponent,” he said. “I go in telling myself that I need to worry about my own offense, and I’m constantly looking to score points. When I do that, things turn out in my favor.”

Joe O’Brien, at 132 pounds, also came away a county champion. In the finals, he wrestled Port Jefferson’s Vin Miceli, a year-round, accomplished wrestler.

“He really dominated,” Armstrong said of O’Brien. “Joe is really peaking at the right time. He looked very good and I’m excited to see what he can do at states this weekend.”

The Mustangs will be competing at the Times Union Center in Albany Feb. 24 and 25.

It’s already been a season to remember for Mount Sinai, but the boys are hoping to show New York what Suffolk County is made of.

“It’s a fairytale ending,” Shlonsky said of his season so far. “Coming back not being on the mat much was an unbelievable feeling. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

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Royals reign over Suffolk for first time since 1927

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The Port Jefferson girls' basketball team receives the Suffolk County Class C championship plaque. Photo by Bill Landon
Courtney Lewis scores on a layup. Photo by Bill Landon
Corinne Scannell at the free-throw line. Photo by Bill Landon
Courntey Lewis moves the ball up the court. Photo by Bill Landon
Jillian Colucci shoots a 3-pointer. Photo by Bill Landon
Sam Ayotte drives the baseline. Photo by Bill Landon
Courtney Lewis scores on a jumper. Photo by Bill Landon
Jocelyn Lebron drives the lane. Photo by Bill Landon
The Port Jefferson girls' basketball team celebrates the program's first Suffolk County Class C title since 1927. Photo by Bill Landon
The Port Jefferson girls' basketball team defeated Pierson-Bridgehampton, 46-43, for the Suffolk County Class C championship title. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon & Desirée Keegan

Jillian Colucci and Corinne Scannell know what being a part of a Port Jeff powerhouse is like. They were both on the two-time state champion girls’ soccer team. Now, they can say they are a part of another team that made history with total team dominance.

The Royals basketball team earned the school’s first Suffolk County Class C title since 1927 Feb. 18. Despite being the first team to take Port Jefferson all the way this year, the Royals hadn’t had success is the finals in seasons past. The girls went 11-1 in League VIII last season, and 10-0 the year before that, but lost to Pierson-Bridgehampton and Babylon, respectively in the final game.

This year, the girls not only made history; they got redemption with a 46-43 win over Pierson.

Senior Courtney Lewis, who scored a team-high 12 points, was limited well below her 27.3 points-per-game average. She and classmate Jillian Colucci were forced to watch the final minutes of the game from the bench, after fouling out as the 13-point lead they entered the fourth quarter with slowly shrank.

“Honestly, it was very stressful and everyone else on the team stepped up,” Lewis said of watching the end of the fourth quarter transpire. “They just played really well today.”

The Royals led 38-25 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. That’s when momentum shifted the Whalers’ way. The team slowly chipped away at the deficit, with Nia Dawson, who scored a game-high 17 points, leading the way.

With two of the team’s primary ball handlers sidelined, Port Jefferson head coach Jesse Rosen said his bench players were remarkable.

“They may not have been comfortable in the situation they were put in on the court — especially in a pressure situation — but they stepped up and did a nice job,” he said.

Protecting a six-point lead at that point, Port Jefferson was sent to the free-throw line, but couldn’t cash in. Pierson had the same opportunity on the other end, and used it to lessen the Royals’ advantage to four points. Coming down to the wire, Pierson’s Isabel Peters went to the stripe and sank both of her free throws with 17 seconds left in the game.

Port Jefferson sophomore Jocelyn Lebron added a free-throw to extend Port Jefferson’s advantage to three points. Port Jefferson senior Corinne Scannell had an opportunity to put the championship away when she was fouled with eight seconds left, and she didn’t disappoint.

“No matter how much they were gaining on us, we still had the lead and we had to keep that in perspective,” Scannell said. “We put pressure on ourselves, we played as a team and we pushed ourselves.”

Lebron said despite being one of the younger members of the squad, she too knew what her Royals had to do.

“When they got close, we just had to slow this game down a little bit, but keep our energy up,” she said. “I couldn’t be happier with this experience.”

Rosen said he gave his girls some words of advice during the fourth quarter.

“I said to them that runs are inevitable,” he said. “Things like that are going to happen and the key is to be able to weather the run.”

Colucci credited her teammates for how they handled the game’s final minutes, but not before she tipped her hat to her opponents, especially for being the team to top the Royals last year.

“It’s always a tough game against Pierson — they never give up and they play us really hard — but we just had to keep our composure,” she said. “We all made eye contact, we relaxed and we slowed the game down. We tried not to let the crowd get us frazzled and we kept our heads in the game.”

Behind Lewis were Colucci and Scannell with 11 points each. Colucci swished two 3-pointers and Scannell had a double-double with 12 rebounds. Senior Gillian Kenah finished with five points, Lebron added four and freshman Samantha Ayotte scored once, with a shot from beyond the arc.

Port Jefferson will take on Class B’s winner of the Feb. 21 Mattituck and McGann-Mercy matchup for the small school championship title at Riverhead High School Feb. 24 at 4 p.m.

While the team is to get ready for the next game, Rosen said just wants his team to take in the moment first.

“I told them to just savor the win,” he said. “We’ll talk X’s and O’s another time.”

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