Huntington's Anna Gulizio drives the baseline in the Blue Devil's 59-13 victory over Newfield on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Newfield's Muariana Milano makes her way through traffice as she heads to the basket in the Wolverines' 59-13 loss to Huntington on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington's Alex Heuwetter shoots from the top of the key in the Blue Devil's 59-13 win over Newfield on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington's Brooke Baade drives the lane in the Blue Devil's 59-13 victory over Newfield on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington's Katie Reilly shoots in the Blue Devil's 59-13 victory over the Wolverines on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Newfield's Stephanie Antola attempts a jumper in the Wolverines' 59-13 loss to Huntington on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Newfield's Emily Diaz maintains possession on a fast break in the Wolverines' 59-13 loss to Huntington on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington's Katie Seccafico scores in the Blue Devil's 59-13 win over Newfield on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
Newfield's Kelsey Larkin shoots in the Wolverines' 59-13 loss to Huntington on Jan. 12 on their own home court. Photo by Bill Landon
Newfield's Kelsey Larkin fights Huntington's Taylor Moreno for the rebound in the Blue Devils' 59-13 victory over the Wolverines on Jan. 12. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Huntington led from the opening tipoff and never looked back, as the visiting Blue Devils held Newfield to just 13 points in a 59-13 victory in girls’ basketball action Tuesday night.
Huntington moved the ball effortlessly and controlled the tempo of the game for all 32 minutes, while the Wolverines had difficulty clearing the ball, and struggled to find a rhythm and the rim. The Blue Devils’ defense was overwhelming in the second half, where the team scored 24 unanswered points in the third quarter while holding the Wolverines scoreless.
“They’re a team that’s strong — they work very hard and their effort was nonstop,” said Newfield assistant coach Mike Weaver. “We warned our team at halftime that you have to be prepared, because [Huntington] is not going to give up, and that’s the reason the margin was what it was.”
Huntington head coach Michael Kaplan rested his starters for the final eight minutes of play as the Blue Devils coasted to victory and extended their winning streak to five games. Kaplan said the goal for his team in the game was for every player to get better and not turn the ball over.
“From a defensive standpoint, I thought we played great — we did a good job under the boards,” Kaplan said. “We’ll have to work on our rebounding and limit our offensive turnovers, but this game was a confidence builder.”
Topping the scoreboard for Huntington was sophomore guard Alex Heuwetter with 14 points, followed by junior guard Anna Gulizio with nine.
Gulizio said her team had good reads on the floor and good communication.
“Yes, we did well scoring-wise, but we played much better as a team in the second half,” Gulizio said.
Blue Devils sophomore guard Katie Seccafico, who tallied six points in the contest, agreed with Gulizio that her team was a little flat for the first 16 minutes.
“In that first and second quarter, we weren’t coming together on defense,” Seccafico said. “Coach told us we needed to work harder even though we were winning.”
Huntington junior guard Emma Petrizzi echoed her teammate’s assessment of the performance in the final two quarters.
“We played hard and we never let up,” she said. “We were able to hold the score so low.”
Huntington senior guard and forward Brooke Baade finished with eight points, senior guard Katie Reilly netted seven and Seccafico and senior guard and forward Taylor Moreno rounded out the score by banking six each.
Newfield senior guards Maria Daume and Muariana Milano, and senior forward Kelsey Larkin finished with four points apiece, while sophomore forward Emily Diaz completed the scoring with a free-throw point.
With the win, Huntington improves to 5-1 in League III and 7-2 overall, while Newfield falls to 1-5, and 2-7.
Both teams are back in action Friday as Huntington hosts Smithtown East at 5:45 p.m., while Newfield travels to North Babylon for a 4 p.m. game.
Rocky Point's cheerleading squad takes first place with its performance in Small School varsity Division I "A" during the cheerleading sectionals on their own home mat on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "B" at the cheerleading sectionals held at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. The Warriors walked away with a first-place finish. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "B" cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Northport cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "A" during the cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue cheerleaders compete in Small School varsity Division I "B" cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point's cheerleaders hold up signs during their routine that earned them first place on their own mats during the cheerleading sectionals on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue senior captain Brooke Piligian gets the crowd going at the cheerleading sectionals held at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue cheerleaders leap in the air during their routine that earned them first place in Small School varsity Division I "B" during the cheerleading sectionals at Rocky Point High School on Jan. 10. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point's cheerleading squad took first place in Small School varsity Division I "A" during the cheerleading sectionals on Jan. 10 on the Eagles' home turf. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Cheerleading squads from all over Suffolk County converged on the mats of Rocky Point High School Sunday for the Suffolk County cheerleading sectionals, where Rocky Point and Comsewogue ran away with first-place finishes.
Cheerleading officially became a recognized sport in the 2015-16 school year, making this sectional event the first time that the competition is overseen and sanctioned by the New York State Public High School Athletics Association.
Rocky Point was the first of 31 teams to take to the mat first in Small School Division I “A,” and the squad wowed the crowd with a two-and-a-half minute routine, despite head coach Anna Spallina feeling less impressed with her Eagles, which are 12-time regional and three-time national champions.
“You have two and a half minutes to prove yourself out on the mat — if you don’t prove yourself in those two and a half minutes, you don’t get a second chance,” Spallina said. “You can’t go to the net again with a ball, or throw that pass one more time, so one little slip, an inch this way or an inch that way, and you can throw it away.”
Pleased or not Spallina’s squad earned first place in the division followed by Longwood and East Islip came in third.
With a squad of consisting of mainly eighth and ninth-graders, and only three seniors, Rocky Point senior Courtney Kelly said the Eagles’ only competition was themselves.
“We don’t worry about any other teams, we just worry about ourselves because the only routine we have to beat is ours,” she said.
Brittany Reh said there are some other challenges now that cheerleading is recognized as a sport, such as a different scoring sheet and new rules, but thought her team performed well despite the changes.
“We had a pretty good performance,” she said. “We stayed positive.”
Claire Johannesen said her team has had better execution on the mat, but will continue to work hard to remain at the team’s standards.
“Today was an okay performance, so we definitely have things we have to go to work on in practice,” she said. “But we did many things well that we’ll build on going forward.”
Northport hit the mat next looking to give Rocky Point a run for first place, and after a performance that impressed the judges, the Tigers’ head coach Danielle Milazzo talked about the adjustment her team has had to adjust to the scoring changes.
“The whole scoring rubric is completely different from last year, so we’re trying to get used to that,” Milazzo said. “We’ve reworked routines to align them with the scoring sheets to try to make sure we get the maximum number of points from New York State.”
Comsewogue hit the mat in the second session, as did Kings Park, competing in the Small School Division I “B.” The Warriors put on a flawless performance as the crowd exploded in applause with their finish, but head coach Stefanie Breitfeller was just relieved that the routine was behind her, as the team had yet another hurdle to jump prior to a competition.
“We had a major change this morning as I found out last night one of the girls came down with pink eye,” Breitfeller said. “We had to replace a starter, so we came into this thinking this could go badly or it could go very well.”
Comsewogue senior Samantha Donlon was thrilled with her team’s first-place finish.
“We did absolutely amazing — we have worked so hard for this day and I’m really proud,” she said. “I’m so happy and this will make us perform even harder next week.”
Comsewogue senior Rachel Steck said she thought her Warriors team also performed well, but thinks that like always, there is room for improvement.
“It could’ve been a little tighter, but I’m just so proud of my team,” she said.”We did our best today. We’ll practice our routine; we’ll make it harder and we’ll make it cleaner.”
For junior Brittany Dein, she thought her team performed beyond its expectations with the last-minute change.
“All week we’ve been running the routine a whole bunch of times and I can’t fault any part of our performance,” Dein said.
The teams will reconvene on Sunday Jan. 24 at Hauppauge High School for the second round of competition.
Skeleton racer nabs first place in 2016 IBSF World Cup race in Lake Placid
Annie O'Shea, of Port Jefferson Station, practiced for the World Cup skeleton race in Lake Placid, NY earlier this week. O'Shea won her first World Cup gold medal in the event on Jan. 8 Photo by Pat Hendrick
On her home track in Lake Placid, Port Jefferson Station’s Annie O’Shea won her first gold medal in a World Cup skeleton race.
O’Shea scored a combined time of 1 minute, 50.34 seconds, beating out Switzerland’s Marina Gilardoni by 0.09 seconds for the top spot. O’Shea slid down the track in a time of 55.26 seconds in her first heat, which was good enough for third place, a tenth of a second behind the leaders. She followed that up with a time of 55.08 seconds in her second run, tying a track record.
Annie O’Shea, who graduated from Comsewogue, recently won her first World Cup gold medal in a skeleton race in Lake Placid, NY. Photo from the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
“I wanted this for so long,” O’Shea said. “Everything I’ve done these past 10 year — to become better and work on myself and the process, has paid off.”
After her second run at the 2016 International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup event on Jan. 8, O’Shea stood at the bottom of the mountain watching as the only two racers who could beat her time took their turns. When she saw that she’d won, her jaw dropped as she leaped in the air before hugging her assistant scouting coach, Zach Lund.
“I started crying at the bottom and I couldn’t stop,” she said. After the awards ceremony, O’Shea stopped to sign autographs for young fans.
The Port Jefferson Station athlete, who graduated from Comsewogue and was a 2004 outdoor track and field state champion in the pentathlon when she attended SUNY Plattsburgh, had been ranked 11th in the world coming into this World Cup event in Lake Placid, which is home to the “Miracle on Ice” USA men’s ice hockey team that won a gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
O’Shea said she appreciates the consistent support from her family, friends and community.
“It’s nice to feel when you go home that people kind of have a place for you or are cheering for you,” she said.
O’Shea had previously won a silver medal in December of 2011 in La Plagne, France. This, however, is her first gold at this level of competition.
Tuffy Latour, the head coach of the skeleton team, said O’Shea has been building towards this moment for several years, and has come on strong this year.
“Her potential [has been] through the roof,” Latour said. “It was kind of story book for her. She [was in] third and then put down a very fast heat.”
Port Jefferson Station’s Annie O’Shea, center, claimed a first-place finish behind Marina Gilardoni from Switzerland, left, and Laura Deas from Great Britain, right, in the World Cup skeleton race in Lake Placid, NY. Photo from Amanda Bird
Her mother, Linda, watched the race at her desk in the Comsewogue School District’s district office. She said she jumped out of her seat and cheered with one of her colleagues who watched the finish with her, drawing a crowd of people to her desk, who were quick to share I the excitement.
“I’m so proud of her,” Linda O’Shea said. “It’s the perfect start to a new year.”
Competitors in skeleton use the same curved ice track as racers in luge and bobsled. Bent over and holding onto the sides of their sleds, they sprint for five to six seconds, then dive headfirst onto their sleds. Clad in aerodynamic suits, they slide down the track at speeds of over 80 miles per hour, banking through turns with slight shifts of their body weight.
The next World Cup skeleton race will take place in Park City, Utah on Jan. 15th and 16th. The World Cup races are the second-largest events in the sport behind the Olympics. The skeleton team is currently preparing for the 2018 games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Tom Rotanz poses for a photo with a gold medal and trophy after the U-19 team he was an assistant coach of won a world championship. Photo from Tom Rotanz
A familiar face is stepping onto the college lacrosse scene.
Tom Rotanz, a former head boys’ lacrosse coach for Shoreham-Wading River for 18 years, will helm St. Joseph’s College’s new men’s lacrosse program, which will begin its first season in spring 2017.
“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Rotanz said of joining the college ranks. “I think any competitive athlete and coach wants to show someone what good can come from having the right people around you and the good players that are willing to commit themselves, and I hope to have another successful tenure at St. Joseph’s.”
Tom Rotanz will be the first head coach for St. Joseph’s College’s men’s lacrosse program. Photo from Tom Rotanz
Rotanz has a long history with lacrosse.
His elder brother was on the team that won Ward Melville’s first Long Island championship in 1974, and the younger Rotanz was part of the squad that won the second and third in 1976 and 1977. The lacrosse captain earned All-American honors as a senior in 1977, after his team also made it to the New York State championship game, the first one for lacrosse. The boys lost that game, 12-11.
From there, he was the captain of the Suffolk County Community College lacrosse team that won a national championship and earned All-American honors twice. He then repeated that feat at Adelphi University, where he was also named an All-American twice.
“Tom was a great player,” said his former high school coach, and a legend on the lacrosse scene, Joe Cuozzo. “He was a great competitor, had a great sense of humor about him, and I really enjoyed working with him.”
As a coach himself, with the Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats’ program only a year old, Rotanz took over a roster of 14 players, including six freshmen. The team went 1-15 his first season, scoring 38 goals on the year. But seven years later, the team was ranked fourth in the country, after winning a New York State championship and scoring close to 400 goals.
“It snowballed into something that was really neat to be a part of,” he said. “In the last 13 years I was there, we won 10 county championships, five Long Island and three New York State. People always wondered why or how we kept winning every year and being ranked one or two in the county. I say if you have bright kids that buy into the system, I think anything is possible.”
Tom Rotanz gets water dumped on his head by a former Shoreham-Wading River team after a win. Photo from Tom Rotanz
Rotanz earned his first of six Suffolk County Coach of the Year honors in 1999, two years before he led the program to its first county championship in 2001. In 2002, the program repeated as Suffolk champs en route to Long Island and New York State titles. The team also swept Suffolk, Long Island and New York State championship titles in 2007 and 2012.
In 2012, the coach added to his list of accolades, serving as an assistant for the 2012 USA Men’s U-19 lacrosse team that won a world championship.
Now, he hopes to be able to bring that same success to St. Joseph’s, and Shantey Hill, assistant vice president and senior director of athletics and recreation for the college, thinks Rotanz is the perfect fit.
“We were very lucky in that Coach Rotanz applied,” she said, referring to the school’s intensive, national search across all NCAA institutions. “He has a plethora of experience, and … he knows the landscape of Long Island, and he’s very well-connected with his peers to be able to do good recruiting for what we’re looking for.”
For Rotanz, being on the scene as long as he has and being a part of Long Island lacrosse, serving as an assistant coach at Smithtown West for the last two years, will be beneficial throughout the recruiting process for the Golden Eagles.
“I’m very close friends with a lot of the Suffolk and Nassau coaches, so they’re already contacting me with players that they think will be a great fit, kids that they think would really like to play for me; so that’s the neat thing.”
He added, laughing, “I think there will be a lot more kids that think about not leaving the Island now, hopefully.”
Tom Rotanz makes a save during a Ward Melville boys’ lacrosse game. He helped the team to two Long Island championship titles and a New York State championship appearance. Photo from Tom Rotanz
According to Hill, the school decided the time was right for a lacrosse program after seeing that a number of Division III student-athletes in the college’s Skyline Conference that commit to play lacrosse come from Long Island and that there was interest with incoming and current students. The college also built a new outdoor athletic facility.
Hill said St. Joseph’s found the right coach in Rotanz.
“We think we hit a home run with coach Rotanz,” she said. “He’s not only a wonderful coach, but also a great man, and he will do great things. We’re looking forward to him not only being the face of the lacrosse program, but also being a mentor to our male student-athletes. His tenure speaks for itself. He’s very well-connected, and he has good relationships with lots of people, and that’s something you can’t put a price tag on.”
Cuozzo, who was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, said he used to go to Shoreham-Wading River practices and games to watch his former athlete, and has been thrilled with his approach to the game.
“The way he treats kids, he’s a real student of the game, and I can’t say enough on how proud I am of his accomplishments,” he said. “He brings a winning attitude.”
Rotanz, who said he tries to emulate the ways and successes of his former coach, is competitive, according to Cuozzo.
“He hates to lose — I think he got that from me,” he said, laughing. “I wasn’t a very good loser.”
Luckily, neither one of them has had to do much of that.
Tom Rotanz coaches from the sidelines of a Shoreham-Wading River boys’ lacrosse game. Photo from Tom Rotanz
Cuozzo compiled a 699-73 record while at the helm of the Patriots’ program. In 2007, he became the head coach at Mount Sinai, where he brought his win total to 747 in his four years before retirement. During his tenure with the Wildcats, Rotanz amassed a 256-99 record.
Cuozzo also thinks Rotanz will be able to draw athletes to the school.
“A lot of kids like to leave Long Island when they are finished with high school — they don’t want to stay local — but knowing Tom, he’s very convincing,” Cuozzo said. “He’ll do his homework. He’ll go out and scout, he’ll go to high school games and he’ll talk, make phone calls. He’s very organized, he’s very knowledgeable about the game, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to be successful there.”
James Thristino (No. 11) beats out a defender and the goalkeeper before sending his shot into the net. Photo by Brian Ballweg
Everyone was giving 110 percent at practice, but since his adjustment from high school to college ball was challenging for him, former Comsewogue soccer standout James Thristino had to put in that much more effort.
The payoff proved to be worthwhile, as the Adelphi University freshman forward earned Eastern College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year honors as a result.
“I had to come in fit — keep working as hard as I can because I was just a freshman going into a team that’s very good,” Thristino said. ”And in the beginning, it started off a little slow for me.”
Matt Giaconelli, a sophomore midfielder for the Panthers, said he was excited to see what his new teammate, who was Long Island’s leading goal-scorer and point-scorer as a junior and senior, would bring to the team.
“I thought he was going to be a big help right from the start,” he said. “Any goal-scorer is going to be useful on any team.”
Giaconelli said the freshman forward was a little discouraged at first, because he needed to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game at the next level, but he adapted in his first season. As a result, Thristino’s efforts also earned him an ECAC Second Team placement.
“He scored plenty of goals and he helped us out a lot,” Giaconelli said. “He had a great season and he deserved it. He worked hard.”
James Thristino moves between two defenders to grab a pass. Photo by Brian Ballweg
Head coach Carlo Acquista also noticed his player’s dedication to the game.
“He showed his talent and ability and why we recruited him,” he said. “He came in and needed to adjust a little bit, but he did a good job. He was right on course to do what he was supposed to do and what we expected him to do.”
Thristino said he worked with the juniors and seniors on the team, especially captain, midfielder and forward Alejandro Penzini, one of his roommates, to work on adjusting his game, despite being intimidated by the upperclassmen from the start.
Acquista said he worked with the team’s assistant coaches as well.
“He did a little bit of extra individual work and he really absorbed all the information that I brought to the table,” he said. “I think he did a good job of picking up the learning curve very quickly.”
Rooming not only with the captain, Thristino bunked with junior midfielder Caelan Hueber, who scored the most goals on the team — with 11 on the season — and had five assists. Thristino said he didn’t think he’d scored as many as the eight goals and two assists he did, which was good for second-highest on the roster.
“The college game is faster, more physical, hard-working and demanding — everyone expects more because they’re great players from all around,” he said. “You need to improve.”
And with each game, he did. Thristino wasn’t a starter, but he found a way to make his presence known.
In the team’s Sept. 26 game against Vermont’s St. Michael’s College, Thristino was subbed into the game about 20 minutes in, and with his first touch on the ball, beat out a defender and scored to put the Panthers’ first point on the board. After the Knights scored the equalizer, the former Warriors star tapped in a rebound to score the game-winner.
“Scoring the second goal to put us ahead was a good feeling,” Thristino said. “After, my teammates grabbed me, hugged me in the corner. That made me think, ‘All right, I like this feeling. I need to keep it going.’”
And he did that, too.
He scored all three goals in a 3-0 win over Stonehill College in Massachusetts on Oct. 10.
“It was all hard work,” he said of the different ways he scored to help his team to another victory. “To be successful at college soccer, you need to be hard-working. You need to give 110 percent every time you step onto the field” because the competition is better than it is on the high school level. “You don’t get that many chances on the ball sometimes, so if you get one, you have to capitalize because you might not get many more.”
James Thristino sends the ball into play for Adelphi University. Photo by Brian Ballweg
Following both games, the forward earned separate Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week honors.
Some of the freshman’s most memorable moments from the season include scoring his first playoff goal against Le Moyne College in the quarterfinals and celebrating in front of a large crowd. Another was when his team was tied 1-1 against Merrimack College and, with five minutes left in the game, he stole the ball away from the goalkeeper and knocked in a shot from 30 yards out that ended up being another game-winner.
“I ran into the corner and one of my best friends was on the sidelines and he tackled me to the floor as we celebrated,” he said. “That’s probably the most memorable one because that brought us to the championship for the first time in school history.”
His coach thanked him for being in the wrong position on that play.
“He made me look like a genius,” Acquista said. “I’m always excited for my guys to do well, and he took his role every game and he learned from it.”
As a result of his hard work and garnering his accolades this season, Thristino is looking forward to the next chapter of his college career.
“Getting that [Rookie of the Year] award boosted my confidence to the next level,” he said. “Knowing I could do even better next season, I’m going to keep raising my standards even higher, like I did in high school. It worked for me and I always want to do something better than what I previously did because I like to prove people wrong.”
The head coach said his athlete listened to what he needed him to do and did it, and it led to a successful season. He’s hoping for more from his forward in the future.
“For James to get Rookie of the Year is impressive because [in] the Northeast-10 Division II you get a lot of older international players as well,” he said. “So for a true rookie, 18 years old, to get Rookie of the Year in the conference is pretty unheard of … so that’s credit to him. … I just want James to keep growing and keep getting better.”
Huntington's Kenny Charles leaps up to the rim in the Blue Devils' 61-35 victory over Centereach on Jan. 5. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Huntington turned up the heat in the second half to close the door on previously undefeated Centereach, 61-35, in League III boys’ basketball action Tuesday night.
Centereach’s Jake Marzocca shoots in the Cougars’ 61-35 loss to Huntington on Jan. 5. Photo by Bill Landon
Centereach was previously 3-0 in league play and 6-1 overall, while Huntington sat at 1-2 and 1-6 before the win. The game was close after eight minutes of play, as the Cougars were ahead, 10-9, to open the second quarter, despite both teams being sluggish from the opening tipoff. The Blue Devils found their rhythm and the rim in the second, to pull ahead with the victory.
Huntington came alive behind the hot hands of senior guard Kenny Charles, who notched 10 points in the quarter after hitting a pair of three-pointers, a field goal and two foul shots. Teammate Quincy Nelson matched Charles with a pair of treys of his own to help put his team out front, 33-16, by the halftime break.
“We trusted each other and we executed out on the court, and that’s how we got the ‘W,’” said Nelson, who is also a senior guard. “They’re a very good team and coach told us at halftime that we had to take better shots.”
Huntington was patient in the second half, choosing to wait for the open shot rather than drive the lane. The Blue Devils were content with letting their three-point proficiency dominate the third quarter, as Charles hit his fourth and junior guard and forward Kevin Lawrence hit his second, while Nelson was fouled attempting his third, sending him to the charity stripe shooting three. Nelson was perfect from the line, and Huntington surged ahead 43-24 to begin the final eight minutes in regulation.
Huntington’s Quincy Nelson sets the play in the Blue Devils’ Jan. 5 61-35 victory over Centereach. Photo by Bill Landon
“We haven’t seen Huntington — we saw them once last year,” Centereach senior guard Kevin Callahan said. “We were told that they were going to shoot, and I guess we didn’t respect it, and they punished us for that.”
Charles said that knowing Centereach’s record, his team expected the worst, adding that all his team thought about was playing to win the game.
“We’re 1-2 in the league and our record doesn’t give our team justice,” he said. “In the second half, we knew we couldn’t let up. The game was far from over, but we came out with the win.”
Callahan hit his first three-pointer of the game and added a field goal in the fourth quarter, while fellow senior Jake Marzocca, a forward, found the net for two points, but the Cougars couldn’t keep the pace.
Centereach head coach Ed Miller, fresh off a recent scouting report, told his team that Huntington is a long-range scoring threat, but the Blue Devils were still hard to contain.
“We needed to do a better job at stepping out on them,” Marzocca said. “And when we did step out on them, it didn’t help. They were just hitting their shots — it was their game.”
Centereach’s Kevin Callahan scores in the Blue Devils’ Jan. 5 61-35 loss to Huntington. Photo by Bill Landon
For Huntington, the fourth quarter was all senior guard Dan Mollitor, who hit his third trifecta of the game and nailed a pair of free throws, while Charles hit a pair of three-pointers to finish with six on the night, as Huntington slammed the door on Centereach.
“They’re very, very good — I’ve picked them second in the league, and they’re at a different level than us right now,” Miller said. “I didn’t expect it to be an almost 30-point loss, but I expected them to be very good, especially at their own home place.”
Charles led his team with 26 points, followed by Lawrence, who added 13.
On the top of the scoring list for Centereach was Marzocca with 12 points, while Callahan followed close behind with nine.
Huntington hits the road today, as the Blue Devils invade West Islip, with opening tipoff scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Centereach will host North Babylon today at 6:15 p.m.
Mackenzie Zajac makes her way to the basket in Shoreham-Wading River's 51-30 loss to Hampton Bays. Photo by Desirée Keegan
The Shoreham-Wading River girls’ basketball team struggled to recover after an 11-0 start by its opponent as the Wildcats fell to Hampton Bays, 51-30, in their first League VI loss Tuesday.
“Being down 11-0 was a problem,” Shoreham-Wading River head coach Adam Lievre said. “We talked a little bit about that before the game — I don’t know if I jinxed us — but we played hard. Offensively, at times, we struggled to score, and against a team that can shoot the ball well from the outside, it’s hard for us to trade missed layups for them to get open threes.”
Mikayla Dwyer maintains possession with a Hampton Bays defender on her hip in the Wildcats’ 51-30 loss on Jan. 5. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shoreham-Wading River sophomore guard Mikayla Dwyer put the Wildcats’ first points on the board, and junior forward Lindsey McKenna followed right behind her. Dwyer was fouled heading to the basket after her team forced a turnover, and she sank her first free-throw attempt to cut the deficit, 11-5.
The Baymen went on another tare, this time scoring six straight points, before McKenna scored another field goal. Hampton Bays countered with a field goal of its own, and added a long field goal at the buzzer to bring the score to 22-7.
“Execution is hard,” Lievre said. “We do as much as we can, and sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t. Tonight was a night where, early on, in the first couple of minutes, they didn’t fall, and it led to a hole that we just couldn’t recover from.”
The hole continued to grow, despite junior guard Jesse Arline coming off the bench to score half of the team’s points in the second stanza, with a long field goal and a three-pointer. At the end of the eight minutes, the Wildcats fell behind 38-17.
“We just need to strategize, but there’s no problem with effort,” Arline said. “We tried really hard and we did a good job. I think movement of the ball was really good. Some of our shots weren’t landing, but you need to play fast against a team like that.”
Lievre said he agreed that despite the loss, he’s never had a problem with his girls giving him their all.
“My girls always play hard until the very end,” he said. “We never have to question effort or intensity, we just have to execute offensively. I never have to worry about them putting everything into a game, because they will — they’ll battle no matter what the score is, good or bad.”
McKenna led the team with six points on the evening, Arline and Dwyer tacked on five apiece, junior forward Maddy Bottari and junior forward Sophie Triandafils finished with four each, junior guard Mackenzie Zajac added three, and junior guard Sam Higgins and junior forward Maria Smith rounded out the scoring with two points and one point, respectively.
Jesse Arline dribbles the ball into Hampton Bays’ zone in the Wildcats’ 51-30 loss on Jan. 5. Photo by Desirée Keegan
The Wildcats were off to a 3-0 start in the league before the loss. The head coach said that although the team is halfway to the playoffs wins-wise, they still have some tough competition ahead when they travel to Elwood-John Glenn tomorrow at 4:15 p.m., and then host Mount Sinai on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Arline said her team would recover from the loss and use it to fuel them for their upcoming league matchups.
“We lost, and we’ll take it as a learning experience,” she said. “We’ll put what we’ve learned here into the game ahead. We try to keep a game-to-game mindset, so we’re just worried about the next opponent.”
Lievre also thinks his team will be more prepared moving forward. He liked some of what he saw, and hopes that if his team can execute, they’ll have a better shot of remaining in games against tough opponents.
“There were a lot of good looks and good shots I’d like to repeat again, we’ve just got to hope next time that they fall for us,” he said. “It’s one game; we’ll regroup and move on.”
Ward Melville's Brendan Martin holds off an opponent as he moves the ball downcourt. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Despite a 66-55 loss to Sachem East Monday, the Ward Melville boys’ basketball team can rest easier knowing it has three leading three-point shooters, including freshman shooting guard Ray Grabowski, who scored 17 points on the evening off five trifectas and a field goal.
“We need to play a little harder, smarter and we could have played better defense,” he said. “But I think we’re all pretty good at shooting three-pointers. I took the shots where I felt they would go in and I made them, so it felt pretty good today.”
Ward Melville senior Tim Specht put the first points on the board with a layup, but Sachem East scored the next six points to take the lead before Ward Melville junior forward Dominic Pryor nailed his first of three three-pointers in the first quarter to cut the deficit to one, 6-5.
“I think we played good, but we just could’ve used a lot more effort,” Pryor said. “They outplayed us.”
Ward Melville sophomore Brendan Martin also swished a three-point field goal, but by the end of the first eight minutes, Sachem East was up 18-16.
The Patriots nailed seven three-pointers in the first half alone, as Martin tacked on his final trifecta and Grabowski added two more, but the team was still behind 32-31 as a result of sending too many Sachem East players to the foul line.
Ward Melville’s Alex Sobel prepares to reach for the rim amid a swarm of Sachem East defenders. Photo by Desirée Keegan
“Our guys are comfortable shooting from anywhere; we practice it,” Ward Melville first-year head coach Alexander Piccirillo said. “Everyone has the green light, so they can shoot it from wherever they want when they’re open.”
Ward Melville scored the first four points of the third stanza to take a 35-32 lead, but the Patriots had some breakdowns on defense, leading to nine straight Sachem East points.
The two teams scored, and Ward Melville couldn’t cut the deficit after Sachem East’s tare, leading to a 47-41 score by the end of 24 minutes.
“I think that we didn’t really play so well, but we were in it until the end,” junior point guard Noah Kepes said. “We’ll continue to do what we do every day in practice, but continuing working on our shooting will help in the future.”
Grabowski managed three more three-pointers in the final quarter, but fouls proved to be a lingering issue, as Sachem East scored 10 points off free throws alone.
“Our intensity definitely decreased when we saw they were gaining on that lead, but that can’t happen anymore,” Pryor said. “We need to work on playing as a team and not letting one or two players take all the shots.”
Piccirillo said he thinks his team played hard for half of the final eight minutes, where the team used a 1-and-1 opportunity to pull within two points, 51-49, but the team would only manage six more points to Sachem East’s 15.
“I don’t think we played with the right effort to win the game,” Piccirillo said. “We played hard for like four minutes and then it kind of fell apart. We’ll just make sure that we play for all 32 minutes next game.”
Steven Matz talks with Stony Brook Children’s patient Rachel Dennis. Photo from Greg Filiano
Three Village baseball star Steven Matz of the New York Mets brought holiday cheer and big smiles to the faces of dozens of Long Island’s youngest Mets fans: pediatric patients at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.
Steven Matz poses with Stony Brook Children’s patients Nicholas Reinoso, left, and Anmol Jaswal, both displaying their Mets-themed colored drawings, which Matz autographed. Photo from Greg Filiano
The Mets pitcher spent time talking to the children and encouraged them to keep getting better and to finish all their treatments. Patients like Nicholas Reinoso, 9, of Bellport, shared artwork with Matz – colored drawings of Mr. Met and other Mets-themed images.
“It’s great to see these kids at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital and take time to learn about them,” said Matz. “That’s what it is all about this time of year.”
He signed their drawings and chatted with patients in the pediatric floor playroom and in some of their hospital rooms in the acute care and intensive care units.
“It was cool to meet him,” said Anmol Jaswal, 21, of Blue Point, a college student who attends Long Island University.
Zachary Cottrell gets a bedside visit from Steven Matz at Stony Brook University Hospital. Photo from Greg Filiano
Decked out in her tennis sweat suit, Anmol mentioned to Matz that it was her birthday the day before and talked about her tennis game and hopes to play for Long Island University. He wished her a happy birthday and said he would root for her.
Matz also visited the hematology and oncology clinic at the Stony Brook University Cancer Center, signing autographs and visiting with children undergoing chemotherapy.
Smithtown East's Ceili Williams drives the lane in the Bulls' 54-50 Jan. 2 nonleague win over Lindenhurst. Photo by Bill Landon
Smithtown East’s Haley Anderson fights for a rebound while Alexis Perdue reaches to block in the Bulls’ 54-50 nonleague win over Lindenhurst. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Smithtown East’s girls’ basketball team trailed from the opening tipoff, and fell behind by as much as 11 points, but the Bulls were able to rally back against Lindenhurst in a nonleague contest that was decided in the final seconds of the game, when Smithtown East junior guard Haley Anderson nailed two free throws to break a tie with 14 seconds left to play to give her team a 52-50 edge.
Junior guard Victoria Redmond added two free throws to help her team to a 54-50 win Saturday.
Smithtown East, trailing by 10 to open the second half, rattled off three unanswered field goals to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to four. Lindenhurst scored next to extend its lead to 40-34 with just over a minute left in the third quarter, and Smithtown East sophomore guard Ceili Williams hit her second three-pointer of the afternoon to again make it a four-point game, 41-37, to open the final quarter.
Having played the Bulldogs twice last season, Williams said her team spent a lot of time in practice preparing for the matchup.
“Our coaches prepared us — and our shots were on today,” Williams said, adding that that hasn’t been the case lately.
Smithtown East’s Victoria Redmond scores in the Bulls’ 54-50 nonleague victory over Lindenhurst on Jan. 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Both teams traded points at the free-throw line and Anderson swished both of her attempts to make it a three-point game, as the Bulls trimmed the deficit to 44-41.
Jordan DeBernardo had just one basket in the game, but it was a big one, as the junior guard drained a long distance trey to tie the game 44-44 with five minutes left to play.
“I thought we were prepared for them, but they really pushed us,” DeBernardo said. “Haley [Anderson] wasn’t playing in the beginning, but when she did come in, we played with more energy.”
Sophomore point guard Abby Zeitsiff answered next when her shot found the rim to put the Bulls out front for the first time, 49-48.
In a foul-riddled final two minutes of play, both teams tried to best each other at the free-throw line.
Redmond split the difference in her appearance at the charity stripe, and the Bulls edged ahead 50-48 with less than a minute left in regulation.
“We knew who their better players were and we worked in practice at stopping them,” Redmond said. With 27 seconds left, Lindenhurst went to the free-throw line and sank both to retie the game a 50-50, before the Bulls put the last four points on the scoreboard.
Smithtown East Abby Zeitsiff scores a layup in the Bulls’ 54-50 win over Lindenhurst in a nonleague matchup on Jan. 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Anderson said her team had to key on Lindenhurst’s Alexis Perdue, but couldn’t contain her, as the senior point guard led the game in scoring with 27 points.
“They have a really good player in No. 12, she’s hard to guard,” Anderson said. “But we picked it up there in the second half and played really well.”
Redmond led her team in scoring with 16 points, followed by Williams with 13, Zeitsiff with 10 and Anderson with eight.
“We made a few adjustments at halftime — we tried to do a better job of slipping those screens and switching and not give them a wide open look,” Smithtown East head coach Tom Vulin said. “We came out on them more in the second half.”
Smithtown East remains atop the League III leaderboard, tied with Riverhead, but that will change on Tuesday when the Bulls travel to take on the Blue Waves for the top spot. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.