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Hampton Bays

From left, unidentified man, Tony Musso, Tom Hespos and Mike Denimarck. Courtesy of family

By Rich Acritelli

As a long-time educator, I had the opportunity to meet recently with my former teachers and coaches and hear their interesting sports stories.

Mike Denimarck

Mike Denimarck

Sound Beach resident Mike Denimarck was a talented offensive guard and middle linebacker at Newfield High School, chosen for the Daily News All-League team. He decided to enroll at Kansas State Teachers College, but the Vietnam War disrupted his plans as he did not receive a draft deferment. His father was a Marine who witnessed the World War II flag raising at Iwo Jima, and wanted his son to gain an education and play football.

Denimarck solidified his defensive presence, earning All-District and later All-American football honors at the Teachers College. He played for former Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer in the East-West College All-Star game and was the only player from Long Island and his college to participate. In 1974, Denimarck was drafted in the eighth round by the Detroit Lions. While he had a good training camp, he was placed on waivers. He then signed with the World Football League’s Southern California Sun, but during practice he severely injured his knee and needed surgery.

The next season, he had offers from the New York Giants but signed a three-year contract with Detroit. He was later traded to the Green Bay Packers, where he was briefly coached by iconic Super Bowl quarterback Bart Starr, who advised Denimarck to gain experience in the Canadian Football League. In 1976, the New Orleans Saints invited him to their training camp, where he was with quarterback Archie Manning under coach Hank Stram.

Again, Stram advised him to play in Canada. Instead, Denimarck returned home and was hired by Comsewogue school district in October 1976. For 43 years, he was a dean of students, gym and special education teacher, and taught fifth and sixth grade. He was the defensive coordinator who helped make the football team one of the most successful in Suffolk County. His teams kept rivals scoreless, won numerous league and county titles, and captured the Rutgers Trophy as the best on Long Island in 1990 and 1996. A warm educator, Denimarck also coached junior high wrestling and track, always positively guiding his players.

Tom Hespos

Tom Hespos

Tom Hespos, a Wading River resident, grew up in northern New Jersey and excelled in football, basketball and baseball. Descending from a sports family, he had a “major league” curveball in high school but wanted to play football in college. At C.W. Post, Hespos was a 6-foot 2-inch, 205-pound quarterback known for passing over 2,000 yards in his career and, in one game, throwing for four touchdowns and 400 yards. Alongside some of his teammates, he sang at the 1965 World’s Fair in Queens.

Hespos was C.W. Post’s most valuable player in 1963-64 and was selected to the Little All-America team. After graduating with a business degree, he learned that the Green Bay Packers sent him a free agent contract. He recalled head coach Vince Lombardi’s “agile” mind, expecting his players to be punctual and productive.

Hespos attended meetings with legendary players Starr and Paul Hornung, who took him out for some fun in Green Bay. Lombardi’s first coaching job was at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey, in the 1940s, and he knew that Hespos had defeated his former team 7-6 to win the Tri-County championship in 1961. Competing against veteran quarterbacks, Hespos had an impressive camp and still sees himself on the sidelines through film documentaries, but was cut by Lombardi. That season, Hespos played semi-professional football for the Jersey City Jets and won a championship. After injuring his shoulder, he began his teaching career at Comsewogue in 1969.

Hespos guided winning teams at Comsewogue, North Shore and Hampton Bays school districts. He lives now in Florida, enjoys playing golf, and is pleased that his grandson Zach recently scored 24 points in a summer league basketball game.

Tony Musso

Tony Musso

A soft-spoken Wading River resident, Tony Musso grew up playing soccer and basketball and was an All-County baseball player for Bellport High School. He was a center fielder and third baseman scouted by the New York Yankees. Though his parents did not expect him to attend college, Musso was accepted into Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where he earned an education degree. While he enjoyed playing baseball and was a teammate of former Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove, Musso felt discrimination from the coaching staff for being an Italian from Long Island.

After graduating in 1972, Musso was hired by Comsewogue school district as a physical education teacher. By 1980, his teaching schedule allowed him to coach, and he became involved with the dominant sports of football, basketball and baseball. In the mid-1980s, he coached softball, won a state championship in 1985, and over four years his teams earned a 70-8 record. He assisted Bob Davis with the girls basketball team, which emerged as one of the finest in the county and state.

At St. Joseph’s College, Musso coached softball for several years, had many fine teams and was inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame. He played on several notable travel softball teams, always excelling as a pitcher, fielder and hitter, and was later inducted into three halls of fame for the sport.

Years after retiring, these educators are still remembered fondly by their former students for being special teachers and coaches.

Author Rich Acritelli is a history teacher at Rocky Point High School and adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College.

 

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Kings Park girls soccer team upperclassmen celebrate senior day with their families. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Kings Park was spreading the wealth on senior night — something that especially pleased senior Jessica Hoyt.

Senior Jessica Hoyt powers past a defender. Photo by Bill Landon

“I’ve been playing with these girls since the seventh grade and not all the seniors play that much,” she said. “So it was great to see them get playing time and a bunch of them scored, who usually don’t, so it was just a really nice day.”

Four girls, two seniors, found the back of the net in the Kingsmens’ 5-0 shutout of East Hampton Oct. 16. The win was especially sweet for those upperclassmen playing in their last home game of the regular season.

“To win on senior night was amazing — I don’t get a lot of playing time, but to win tonight, our season just got even better,” senior defender Zoe Dougherty said.

The game against Hampton Bays though was not what she or any of her teammates expected. Even though the Bonackers are 0-13 on the season, they brought their A game.

“They were not what I expected,” Dougherty said. “Being in last place without a win they pressed us in the first half, holding us to just one goal.”

Kings Park scored in the 28th minute, when Hoyt drilled a Sam Hogan cross pass into the netting to break the ice.

Senior Mary Tuorto heads the ball. Photo by Bill Landon

Hogan, a junior, beat out a defender for an open look at the goal two minutes into the second have, and sent her shot into the upper left corner. She scored a solo shot later in the half for a 3-0 advantage.

“We played them once before, so we knew they’d be tough — they don’t ever give up; they swarm to the ball and they play really hard,” Kings Park head coach Bryan LoPalo said. “They played better than their record indicates. [This is] an extremely tough league.”

With senior bench players swapped in for starters, junior Amelia Galdorisi and senior Mary Tuorto also found their way to the scoreboard. Kings Park ends the regular season at 11-3-2 overall with an 11-2-1 mark in League V. The girls soccer playoffs begin with outbracket games Saturday Oct. 21. The first round starts Tuesday Oct. 23.

“That was unexpected, [it was] a little different game they played, but absolutely they challenged us,” Tuorto said comparing the two matchups between the teams. “I was shocked at how our seniors came together. We don’t normally all play together on the field. Tonight it was so important to win this game.”

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Miller Place senior Danielle Bamnola maintains possession of the ball inside the paint in the Panthers' 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Miller Place girls’ basketball team snapped an eight-game losing streak with its first win since early December and second League VI win of the season, in a 61-18 victory over East Hampton Tuesday.

Miller Place junior Elizabeth Corbin makes her way into East Hampton's zone in the Panthers' 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Miller Place junior Elizabeth Corbin makes her way into East Hampton’s zone in the Panthers’ 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Most of the girls’ losses over that streak were close, with the girls losing by four to six points in half of them.

The Panthers’ last win was a 57-32 win over East Hampton on Dec. 11, and since then, the girls have shown they’ve improved by allowing fewer points and tacking on more against the Bonackers this time around.

Senior Milan Hatcher started the game off with two points, and nearly four minutes went by before the next points were put on the board. This time, it was East Hampton scoring a three-pointer, which the Bonackers followed with a long field goal to take a 5-2 lead.

At the 3:02 mark, junior Elizabeth Corbin scored a field goal to pull within one point, and senior Jess Powers tacked on a layup with 1:33 left in the first quarter to give the team a lead it would never relinquish. Sophomore Kelli Ryan scored a layup after a turnover and sophomore Victoria Iavarone swished one free-throw point to give the Panthers a 9-5 lead at the end of eight minutes.

Miller Place sophomore Victoria Iavarone moves the ball downcourt in the Panthers' 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Miller Place sophomore Victoria Iavarone moves the ball downcourt in the Panthers’ 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Miller Place was forcing turnovers and stealing passes, but both teams were victims of traveling, and both had trouble getting their shots to fall.

Those errors continued into the second stanza, leaving Miller Place unable to score for nearly the first two minutes of play, while the Panthers held East Hampton scoreless across the full eight minutes.

With 6:12 remaining, sophomore Jillian Patterson broke the ice with a long two-point field goal. A minute later, senior Danielle Bamnola scored a layup, and seconds after that, Iavarone tacked on another two points to extend her team’s lead to 15-5.

Corbin netted a field goal, while Bamnola added two free-throw points and Hatcher added another, to bring the halftime score to 20-5.

From there, it was smooth sailing for the Panthers as their shots began to fall in the second half.

Miller Place senior Jess Powers prepares to pass the ball in the Panthers' 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Miller Place senior Jess Powers prepares to pass the ball in the Panthers’ 61-18 win over East Hampton on Jan. 19. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Miller Place nearly doubled its first-half score in the third quarter alone, tacking on 17 more points while holding its opponent to five, and lit up the scoreboard even more in the fourth, with 24 points to East Hampton’s eight.

Bamnola led all scorers with 15 points. Hatcher finished with 12 and Patterson contributed 11. Corbin tallied eight points on the evening, Powers, Ryan and sophomore Kaylee Deleva added four points apiece and Iavarona rounded out the scoring with three points on the evening.

The Panthers (3-9 overall, 2-6 in conference play) are back in action today when they travel to Hampton Bays (6-1 in League VI) for a 5:45 p.m. tipoff.

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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
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
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.”