Wading River

By Bill Landon

The Shoreham Wading River wrestling team continued their winning ways with a 47-24 win over visiting Mt. Sinai to clinch the league VII title going undefeated (5-0) Wednesday, Jan. 10 at home.

The Wildcats advantage comes at 124lbs and 131lbs with Chris Colon and Gavin Mangano where Colon pinned his opponent in 31 seconds. Mangano took a little longer to pin his challenger at 131lbs at the 2:40 mark of the second period. According to head coach Joe Condon the pair have only lost one match between them this season.

Mt. Sinai’s Brayden Fahrbach at 145lbs. had the shortest match of the night when he pinned his opponent in just 19 seconds.

The Wildcats will look to use their momentum when the Suffolk County Dual Championship competition begins Wednesday, Jan. 17. 

— Photos by Bill Landon

Just past the halfway point in the season Shoreham-Wading River, the 2023 Suffolk County class A champions, find themselves in the middle of the pack in their division. The Wildcats (5-5), having lost to Mount Sinai three days earlier, were hungry to get back to their winning ways when they hosted Center Moriches (1-8), making short work of the Red Devils winning 58-35 in the League VI matchup Jan 8.

Senior Juliana Mahan led the way for the Wildcats doing what she’s done all season battling in the paint netting eight layups/putbacks for 16 points. Grayce Kitchen, a junior, netted 11 points and Kady Keegan, the sophomore, banked eight. Kitchen had a 3-pointer as did freshman teammate Stamatia Almiroudis.

The Wildcats next two games will be their litmus test with a road game at Elwood-John Glenn on Tuesday, Jan 16, followed by a home game against Hampton Bays Jan. 20. Game times are 5:15 p.m. and noon respectively.

By Bill Landon

With eight consecutive nonleague games to open the Shoreham-Wading River girls basketball season, game five pitted the Wildcats against Greenport Tuesday night when the visiting Porters clung to a one-point lead to open the second half. The Wildcats came alive in the final 16 minutes of play, slamming the door shut to win the game 50-28 in the Dec. 19 contest.

Senior forward Juliana Mahan led her team in scoring with eight field goals and three from the line for 19 points, while juniors Alyssa Bell banked 17 and Grayce Kitchen netted 9.

The win lifts Shoreham-Wading River to 2-3 in the early season.

The Wildcats retake the court in another nonleague matchup Thursday, Dec. 21, with a road game against Rocky Point. Game time is slated for 4:30 p.m.

— Photos by Bill Landon 

Rocky Point forward Max Wignall shoots in a non-league matchup against Shoreham-Wading River. Photo by Bill Landon

With an injury-riddled starting lineup, the Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats had their hands full in a road game against Rocky Point where the Eagles defense was able to hold the Wildcats at bay. The Eagles offense pressed for all 32 minutes to win the nonleague matchup 55-40, Monday night Dec. 11.

Rocky Point guard Casmere Morrow topped the scoring chart for the Eagles with 17 points and forward Max Wignall added 13.

Shoreham-Wading River senior Gordon Votruba led the way for the Wildcats netting 11 points.

The win lifts the Eagles to 2-0.

The loss drops the Wildcats to 1-4. They will desperately need their bench to get healthy and will have to be at full song to make a postseason bid.

Shoreham-Wading River senior Alex Makarewicz battles his way to the rim in a road game against Centereach. Photo by Bill Landon

The Cougars of Centereach opened their season when they hosted the Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats (0-2) where both teams looked to put a “W” in the win column in a nonleague matchup Tuesday night Dec. 5.

Shoreham-Wading River had lost to Smithtown Christian and Hampton Bays to begin their season. Although the Wildcats had a 10-point advantage in the final minute of play, the Cougars closed the gap in the timeout-riddled final 20 seconds, where Shoreham escaped with a 42-38 victory.

Centereach retakes the court Dec. 9 when they host their crosstown rival Newfield before league play begins Dec. 12.

The win lifts the Wildcats to 1-2 with two more nonleague matchups before they hit the road to take on Port Jefferson to begin league play Dec. 21.

— Photos by Bill Landon

Shoreham-Wading River girls basketball head coach Adam Lievre’s strategy last season led the Wildcats to a county championship playing their toughest nonleague matchups early on. The Wildcats, a Division VI team, hosted William Floyd, a Division 1 team, to open their season and hit a brick wall. Having lost key players to graduation and with a returning starter sidelined with an injury, Shoreham-Wading River struggled with Floyd’s pressing defense and fast break ability, lost the battle 50-29.

A bright spot for the Wildcats was Alyssa Bell where the junior put together six field goals, a triple and four free throws for a team high of 19 points. When injured returning starter Juliana Mahan is able to rejoin the lineup, it’ll be a much-needed boost for the Wildcats 2023-24 campaign.

Shoreham-Wading River retakes the court with a road game against Cold Spring Harbor Saturday morning, Dec. 2, at 10 a.m. followed by another away game against Patchogue-Medford Dec. 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. 

— Photos by Bill Landon

Quarterback Kieran Clifford bolts out of the backfield. Photo by Bill Landon

Shoreham-Wading River’s journey to the Division IV county championship final began with the Wildcats winning their last three games of the regular season to enter postseason play with a 6-2 record.

The Wildcats picked off Center Moriches in the opening round of the playoffs, earning the No. 3 seed to advance to the semifinals with a road game against Babylon. Trailing most of the way, SWR rallied in the final minutes to win 36-35 in a nailbiter and punched their ticket to the championship round on Saturday, Nov. 18, at Stony Brook University to face top-seeded Bayport-Blue Point.

After a three-and-out opening possession, Bayport took over, scampering 23 yards for the score on their first possession of the game for the early lead. The Phantoms scored on their next possession and again late in the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead.

Bayport never looked back, blowing the game wide open for the 49-14 victory.

SWR senior Liam Kershis took the goose egg off the board with a 27-yard catch from Kieran Clifford and a second TD catch to conclude the Wildcats 2023 campaign.

— Photos by Bill Landon

Miller Avenue School second graders in Alice Steinbrecher’s class with local veterans Photo courtesy SWRCSD

Miller Avenue School hosted an inaugural Miller Avenue Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 8. Principal Claudia Smith extended the invitation to all community veterans and received dozens of responses. Veterans were welcomed to the school with coffee and refreshments before walking alongside their cherished Miller Avenue students through the hallways. Patriotic music played, and red, white and blue flags were waved by students throughout the hallways to welcome and thank the veterans for their service to the country.

“This was truly a memorable and historic experience for our students and staff,” Smith said. “It was wonderful to thank these American heroes in person.”

Shoreham-Wading River, the No. 4 seed, hosted Center Moriches (No. 5) in the Suffolk quarterfinals round of Division IV postseason play Friday night, Nov. 3, at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field. Center Moriches drew first blood on a broken play to find the end zone early in the opening quarter. Shoreham-Wading River senior quarterback Kieran Clifford evened the score on a keeper to tie the game and with the point after took the lead. 

From there, the Wildcats never looked back. Running back Liam Kershis did what he’s done all season finding the end zone for a touchdown, and Clifford punched in from short yardage to open the second half. Senior Travis Finnegan followed when he nailed a 25-yard field goal. The Wildcats would make the final buzzer with a 38-12 victory.

The win lifts the Wildcats to 7-2 to advance to the semifinals round Friday, Nov. 10, with a road game against No. 2 seed Babylon. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. 

— Photos by Bill Landon

Meet your new Suffolk County Class A champions. Photo by Bill Landon

Kings Park ended their regular season atop the Division III leaderboard having suffered its only league loss to Shoreham-Wading River back in September. The Lady Kingsmen looked to settle that score in the Suffolk Class A championship final with a rematch with the Wildcats at Diamond in the Pines Wednesday night Nov. 1.

After a scoreless first half, it was Shoreham-Wading River’s Grace Hillis who would write the Kings Park epitaph first with a 30-yard free kick that found its way in the upper far corner of the net. Then the senior scored the insurance goal 11 minutes later. Despite a ferocious late-game surge by the Lady Kingsmen that kept Wildcat goalie Morgan Lesiewicz busy the rest of the way, Shoreham-Wading River prevailed with a 2-0 victory.

Lesiewicz finished with seven saves in the win to punch the Wildcats ticket to the Long Island Championship round where they faced Plainedge on Saturday, Nov. 4. Yet again the Wildcats rose to the occasion with another 2-0 victory to advance to the New York State championship round in Cortland Nov. 11.

— Photos by Bill Landon