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Harrison Bak

By Bill Landon

The Tornadoes are already beginning to blow through the bracket.

The eyes of the storm, seniors Alex Merhige and Kyle Stolba, racked up 29 points each as the No. 1-seeded Harborfields boys’ basketball team, which totaled a lucky 13 3-pointers in the win, knocked out No. 8 Mount Sinai, 86-53, in the Class A quarterfinals Feb. 17.

Fresh off a thrilling overtime win the night before, a 70-63 win over No. 9 Comsewogue, the Mustangs’ season comes to an abrupt end.

From opening tipoff, the game was never in question. The Tornadoes flexed their muscles, racking up point after point — draining six 3-pointers in the first quarter alone.

Merhige, who finished the game with 12 rebounds and five blocks, wowed the crowd with his second dunk of the game in the second stanza. Stolba, who had a triple double with 10 assists and 10 rebounds, hit his fourth trey of the game, and the Tornadoes took a 30-point lead into the halftime break, 56-26.

“They’re always good competitors — they work hard even when they got down in the first quarter they never gave up on us,” Stolba said of Mount Sinai. “The coach had to wake us up a little in the second just to keep going, we caught fire and I think we showed why we’re the No. 1 seed.”

Stolba started the scoring for the second half with a pair of field goals, senior Joe Kelly hit a 3-pointer and Merhige drained his fourth trey for a 73-37 advantage heading into the final eight minutes of play.

“We played great — we moved the ball really well, our defense in the first half was unbelievable,” Merhige said. “We only missed like two three’s in the first half, but our next game definitely won’t be so easy.”

Harborfields head coach John Tampori pulled his starters and the bench took the team to the finish line.

Senior David Maitre answered the call with a field goal and a shot from beyond the arc to help put the win in the record book.

Mount Sinai head coach Ryan McNeely said he was proud to see his boys make it as far as they did.

“Some people counted us out when we were 3-6 in the league, but then we won five out of six before this game,” he said. “We knew they were an excellent team and they shot the ball much better than we saw watching tape, but I’m very proud of our guys in how we finished the season.”

Senior Harrison Bak led Mount Sinai with 13 points, and classmate Nick Rose followed close behind with 11.

Senior Shane Wagner made a pair of field goals and three triples to place him second in scoring behind Stolba and Merhige with 13 points.

Harborfields head coach John Tampori said he liked what he saw from his team, and hopes that the boys can keep up the good work.

“Mount Sinai is well coached and they’re a scrappy team that put forth a great effort,” he said. “We’re not that much better than they are, it’s just that tonight was our night. They had a tough overtime win last night and to come here the next day and played us hard and that’s a credit to them.”

Harborfields will play No. 5 Wyandanch at home Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. Wagner said if his team plays like it did against Mount Sinai, they’ll be ready.

“They came out hot, but we came out hotter,” Wagner said of Mount Sinai. “We were hitting shots. I don’t think we missed a shot in the first quarter, maybe a 3-pointer. For the next round, we are definitely mentally ready, and we’re physically ready.”

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Mount Sinai’s Harrison Bak leaps up to the basket while Rocky Point’s David Apperson reaches for the block. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Mount Sinai Mustangs put their patented resiliency and toughness on display on the road this week.

Even after an 11-point Rocky Point run late in the second quarter to pull within five points, Mount Sinai’s boys’ basketball team battled back and hung on for a 53-40 nonleague win on the road Dec. 13.

The Mustangs put together a near perfect first quarter, creating easy layups and racking up points off put-backs to pull ahead 19-9.

Mount Sinai’s Nick Rose carries the ball downcourt. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinai’s Nick Rose carries the ball downcourt. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“I like the way we started the game — I thought we came out pretty strong,” Mount Sinai head coach Ryan McNeely said, although he was disappointed with the run his team let up. “The same kind of thing happened when we played Riverhead at home last week. We jumped on them early, they made a little run and then we came back again, so I think the boys are good with that. They’re an experienced group. They’re resilient, tough kids.”

After the 11-0 run, Mount Sinai sophomore forward Nick Pintabona swished two free throws with 3.3 seconds left before halftime to end a scoring drought that lasted more than five minutes. Despite the spree, Mount Sinai maintained a 28-21 advantage.

“We kept our composure, we keep a level head,” Mount Sinai senior center Harrison Bak said. “They got a little scrappy, but we kept cool, came back and won by 13.”

Bak came out to score the first two points of the third on a layup, with an assist from senior point guard Nick Rose. Minutes later, Bak tacked on a 3-point play to further stem the tide.

“We faced that adversity where we weren’t hitting shots, and then we made a good run,” Rose said. “I think we were playing really strong. We had a bunch of guys crashing for the rebounds. We were getting the easy put-backs, they were fouling us, we were getting to the free-throw line.”

The Mustangs outscored the Eagles 17-10 in the quarter, and that momentum propelled the team through the fourth, hanging onto the lead despite being edged out 9-8.

Senior forward Cole Harkins led Mount Sinai with 13 points, Bak had 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Rose chipped in 11 points with five assists and eight rebounds.

The Mustangs thought their showing on the defensive-side of the ball was effective, holding Rocky Point to under 50 points, but Harkins said he would’ve liked to see his team box out more, and Rose would like to limit the fouls and play better over the screens.

Rocky Point’s Alec Rinaldi drives the baseline as Mount Sinai’s John Clark jumps in front to stop him in his tracks. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Rocky Point’s Alec Rinaldi drives the baseline as Mount Sinai’s John Clark jumps in front to stop him in his tracks. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The team focused on holding down Rocky Point’s top scorer, senior Alec Rinaldi. The Mustangs made several big blocks, forced turnovers and limited Rinaldi, but the guard still scored 16 points to lead all scorers.

The Mustangs improved to 4-0 thus far in all nonleague games, and will play two league games before Christmas break.

McNeely said despite the league growing stronger with the new additions of Southampton and Wyandanch, his team has been playing together all offseason, which might explain its strong start.

“I think that experience is starting to show,” he said. “We’re shooting the ball well. We’re shooting the 3-point shot real well. We have some good guards and we have some good, big guys and we have guys that can kind of play both positions.”

Rose said the team has already been tested, which he sees as a positive.

“It was important that they started to come back because we stuck with it — we faced that adversity where we weren’t hitting shots, and we made a good run,” he said. “I want to make the playoffs and I want to make a little run in the playoffs. I think getting there will be our hardest task, but there’s a bunch of teams in our league that we can really get after on defense and attack on offense, and I think it should produce some wins for us.”