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high school sports

By Steven Zaitz

It was a tale of two Taylors.

In a first-round flag football playoff battle, junior quarterback Taylor Mileti of Hauppauge and Taylor Gabel of Deer Park battled on May 19. Mileti and the Lady Eagles came out on top 25-6, as she rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another.

Hauppauge, with its sublime regular season record of 15-1, is the second seeded team in Suffolk Bracket B entering the playoffs and Deer Park, that last year won only two games but improved that total to nine in 2025, is seeded seventh.

Despite this, both teams were scoreless after 21 minutes of play. Facing a strong Falcon defense and a strong wind in the first half, Mileti converted a touchdown pass on fourth down from the five-yard line to WR Meghan Goutink with 4:03 left in the first half.  It gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead that they took into the halftime break.

Mileti, with the wind at her back for the second half, sailed a punt that pinned Gabel and the Falcon offense inside their own 10-yard line. Getting the ball back with good field position, Mileti scored on a quarterback draw to make the score 13-0 with 18 minutes left in the game. She would run for 128 yards on the day on 14 carries.

On their next drive, Mileti hit her center Brooke Tarasenko for a 12-yard pass play and then followed Tarasenko’s lead block into the end zone to give Hauppauge a 19-0 edge.

Taylor Gabel, who finished in the top 20 in passing yards in Suffolk this year, engineered a 61-yard drive to make the score 19-6 with just over six minutes to go in the game. It gave Deer Park a flicker of hope.

But that flicker was snuffed out when Mileti scrambled and swerved her way to a 44-yard touchdown run along the right sideline to ice the game.  It was her third rushing score of the game and she was mobbed by her teammates in the end zone.

In addition to her big day on the ground, Mileti was 14 for 22 and 75 yards through the air and had 7 flag pulls on defense.  She also had a long punt return in the second half to set up the Eagles second touchdown.

Goutink had five catches for 22 yards and a touchdown and Tarasenko had four for 40 yards.

Defensive lineman Juliana Krause had three quarterback sacks and another tackle for loss and defensive back Stephanie Braun had seven flag pulls. The Eagles will play third seed Eastport-South Manor on May 22 at Hauppauge in the Suffolk Bracket B semifinal round. Deer Park, who won six games in a row before losing to Kings Park in their regular season finale, finishes with a record of 9-7.

— Photos by Steven Zaitz

Jillian Scully, state record-holder in discus. Photo courtesy Debbie Scully

By  Daniel Dunaief

Goal set. Goal accomplished.

Miller Place High School senior and track star Jillian Scully wanted to set a new record in the discus in her final season.

She accomplished her goal this past weekend at the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Games in White Plains, breaking the 33-year old state record by over two feet when she threw the discus 174 feet, 2 inches away.

At the same time, Scully, 18, now owns the furthest throw by a high school girl in the country.

“I read 174, turned around, looked at my friends, said, ‘I broke the state record,’ jumped around a little bit, had our fun, took a couple of pictures, went home and made myself some cupcakes,” said the typically understated Scully. 

Scully also won the MVP award for the tournament, which reflects both on her remarkable throw and on her willingness to help tournament officials and other competitors.

Scully helped the referees retrieve the discuses and the shot put, a competition she also won on Friday, for other competitors.

An official told her that “you’re not only a good athlete, you’re a good person. This trophy is for special people like you,” Scully said.

After her record setting throw, Scully learned that NASF Nike wanted to provide her with merchandise and funding to support her when she goes to the sneaker and apparel sponsored event in Oregon.

“I’m very excited” about the support, as it is “my first offer of anything,” she said.

Jillian Scully, state record-holder in discus. Photo courtesy Debbie Scully

Scully’s father James shed a few tears when his daughter broke the record.

“It was pretty amazing, to be a parent watching it,” he said. “She’s pretty determined to do what she wants to do. She had it in her head.”

Indeed, Scully said his daughter has been itching to break the record for a while.

“We knew it was coming,” said Jillian’s mother Despina “Debbie” Scully. “She was throwing 170 in practice. We were waiting with bated breath.”

Jillian’s mother was so excited for her daughter that the family “couldn’t form sentences. It didn’t really settle in until we got home.”

That night, Scully returned home and baked the confetti cupcakes she had been saving for the day she claimed the state record.

The weekend wasn’t complete without Scully heading to a field and working with another athlete.

The day after the games, a discus thrower from Mount Sinai reached out to Scully to ask if she’d train with him.

She got up at 8 am, throwing with him for over two hours.

“She loves helping people,” her mother said.

A sunny day, some early fouls

Like many other Saturdays when she has competitions, Scully and her family woke up in a hotel on the day of the record-breaking throw and had an early breakfast.

She arrived at the meet early to watch her teammate compete in the pole vault. She then stood by the track and watched the boys’ discus throw.

One of the competitors threw a personal best, which gave Scully the sense that the conditions might be ripe for her and others.

“A bunch of people” had a personal record, said Scully. “People were up and happy.”

It didn’t hurt that the sun, which was hidden behind rain clouds during the previous day’s soggy shot put competition, was out.

She had a feeling Saturday would be the day for her to reach her goal.

In the preliminary rounds, Scully fouled on her first two throws. She walked over to her parents and told them she wasn’t even going to spin in the circle, minimizing the chance that she’d foul. She knew she’d throw far enough to make it to the next round.

Even without a spin, her deliberate throw was 145 feet, which was further than the second place finisher for the day.

In the finals, her clean throw not only put her in the record books for the state, but also has her ranked 81 in the country, including college students and Olympic athletes. This is the first time Scully has cracked the top 100.

After her record, she reached out to several coaches and to her brother Jimmy, who is a police officer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Bill Hiney, Sully’s personal coach, sent her an image of an Olympic medal.

Hiney, the Assistant Track and Field Coach during the winter and spring seasons for Southold High School, attributed the record to the work she’s put in, to her passion and dedication to the sport, and to her athletic frame.

“I’ve been doing this for 36 years,” said Hiney. “Jillian is just on another planet.”

Ready for more

While Scully is pleased that she met one of her goals, she sees room for improvement in her form.

If she has her way, her current record may not stand for 33 days, as she hopes to use her 6 foot, 1 and 3/4 inch height, to reach or exceed 180 feet.

“I could fix some of the things I messed up,” she said about her throwing technique.

Hiney, who watched a video of her performance, said she didn’t drive all the way through the throw.

“Her right hip was prematurely stopped, when she could have continued putting more energy into the throw,” Hiney said. He believes it won’t be long before she sets another record.

Scully, who is committed to attending LSU in the fall, plans to compete in six more meets before she graduates, including counties, states, state qualifiers and nationals.

Still, even as she looks to build on this throw, Scully has learned to savor and enjoy the moment.

“I try to acknowledge the fact that I accomplished a goal before I start setting the next one,” she said. “I have a tendency to jump from one goal to the next, with nothing in the middle.”

Scully’s current and future achievements are a product of consistent hard work and sacrifice.

Practicing on a field she makes sure is clear in the landing zone of onlookers drawn to the sports of discus and shot put, Scully works on her form over and over again, videotaping as many as 80 throws in a day and critiquing her form.

All the work means that she “misses out on a lot of things,” said Debbie Scully, which includes the athletic awards dinner at school, the last day of school, and the senior class trip, to name a few.

“This is her passion and this is what she wants,” her mother said.

By Bill Landon

The Shoreham-Wading River High School community came together for the 16th Annual Lax Out Cancer fundraiser, an event dedicated to supporting local families impacted by cancer, on May 10. The highly anticipated lacrosse matchup between Shoreham-Wading River and Comsewogue High School drew a spirited crowd.

It was a day-long lacrosse event under brilliant sunshine that featured players of all ages from Rocky Point, Comsewogue, West Islip and Shoreham-Wading River at the Thomas Cutinella Memorial field.

The fundraising event featured hair braiding, face painting, arts and crafts, a dunk tank and tables covered in raffle baskets all donated by local businesses and individuals. The largest portion of proceeds (90%) go directly to five members of the community fighting various forms of cancer with 10% donated to the Shoreham-Wading River lacrosse programs.  

It was the SWR boys junior varsity team taking on Comsewogue at 10 a.m. The girls hosted West Islip at 11:30 a.m. before the varsity squads took the field at 1:30 p.m. The Wildcats concluded the day-long event with a varsity matchup against Comsewogue.

For more information about Lax Out Cancer and ways to contribute, visit LaxOutCancer.Org.

– Photos by Bill Landon

By Michael Scro

On May 12, Huntington girls lacrosse played Sachem North in a Division 1 matchup. Currently ranked second in Conference 1, Huntington had 11 wins entering their game against Sachem North, ranked fourth. 

By the fourth quarter, the two teams were tied 4-4. 

After a tough game, the Blue Devils lost 5-4. They will play Connetquot, also ranked fourth with a 9-3 record, on May 16 at 5:15 pm.

— Photos by Michael Scro,

Media Origin Inc.

By Bill Landon

It was all Ward Melville girl’s lacrosse when Walt Whitman came calling on May 12. The Patriots peppered the scoreboard with 10 unanswered points by the four-minute mark of the opening quarter to force a running clock.

The Patriots were loose and seemed to be able to score at will, keeping Whitman on their heels. Senior attack Olivia Zummo had her hat-trick with seven minutes left in the opening quarter that would set the tone for the Patriots the rest of the way.

Zummo finished the day with four goals and two assists with Ava Simonton adding three and Sadie Banks inked three assists and two goals in the 17-3 victory.

Goalie Delaney Florio notched a single save in the Division I matchup. 

The win lifts the Patriots to 9-5 with two games remaining before post season play begins Tuesday May 20. 

— Photos by Bill Landon 

By Bill Landon

Despite a two-touchdown advantage to open the second half, Ward Melville’s flag football team was fortunate to escape with a win Thursday afternoon, April 24, in a road game against Sachem East.

Junior running back Anja Rosenthal-Vincente broke out the backfield and charged down the left side to go the distance untouched for the touchdown to put the Patriots out front 6-0 with 8:45 left in the opening half.  Wide receiver Brooke Raber spoke next on a pass reception eight minutes later and after a couple of spin moves punched into the endzone to give the Patriots a 12-0 lead as both point after attempts failed.

Sachem East answered back in the middle of the second half with an acrobatic tipped-ball touchdown reception and with the successful point after attempt, trailed the Patriots 12-7 at the 12:04 mark. 

Both teams traded possessions in the final minutes when then Flaming Arrows marched down the field with less than a minute left hoping to find the endzone one more time to tie the game, and a with a successful point after attempt, win it outright. The Patriot defense stood their ground and kept Sachem at bay and escaped with a 12-7 victory.

The win lifts the Patriots to 7-4-1 with four games remaining until post season play begins.

— Photos by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

After Shoreham-Wading River boy’s baseball team’s starting pitcher Daniel Laieta drove in Conor Dietz in the opening inning on April 25, Dietz’ bat barked in the bottom of the second inning driving in two runs to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead over visiting Miller Place. Joe Leo plated Kris Koerner in the bottom of the fourth to make it a four-run game. 

Miller Place threatened in the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two outs ripped the ball to right field where Connor DeMasi robbed the Panthers of a grand slam home run with a diving catch to end the inning. 

Shoreham-Wading River’s Colton Sisler crossed home plate in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of Aiden Reilly’s bat to put the Wildcats out front 5-0.

Miller Place managed two runs in the top off the sixth to avert the shut-out falling to the Wildcats 5-2.

Laieta had three hits and two RBIs for the Wildcats, pitching six-plus innings with zero earned runs in the win. 

— Photos by Bill Landon 

By Bill Landon

The Bulls of Smithtown West girl’s lacrosse made short work of Mattituck in a home game April 22,  peppering the scoreboard with 9 unanswered goals in the first 12 minutes of play before the Tuckers managed to get on the scoreboard. 

Three minutes into the second quarter the Bulls advantage grew to 10 goals, triggering the running clock rule that remained in effect the rest of the way.

The Bulls outplayed their visitors to capture an 18-6 victory in the Division II matchup.

Junior attack Alyssa Lorefice topped the scoring charts for the Bulls, dishing out 8 assists along with her scoring shot, teammates Kate Theofield split the pipes 5 times and Jolie Schiavo netted 4.

Maribella Marciano had a quiet night in net stopping 3.

The win lifts the Bulls to 9-1 with six games remaining before post season play begins.

 — Photos by Bill Landon 

Donovan Gilmartin drives home the winning run for the Cougars. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

The Centereach varsity baseball team has struggled to gain traction since opening day, searching for that elusive first win.

Deer Park struck first with a solo shot over the right field fence in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Centereach short stop Anthony Gagliardi made it a new game in the bottom of the sixth when he drove home Nick Scraper to tie the game 1-1

Donovan Gilmartin’s bat delivered redemption for the Cougars in the bottom of the   seventh inning when he drove in the winning run to put a “W” in the win column defeating the visiting Falcons 2-1.

Centereach pitcher Ryan Maida tossed a complete game for his first varsity win, allowing one earned run in the league IV matchup Monday, April 21.

— Photos by Bill Landon 

By Bill Landon

Fresh off a two-game winning streak, the Port Jefferson baseball team looked to make it three in a row with a home game Saturday afternoon, April 19, against the Mariners of Southampton, but another win for the Royals wasn’t in the cards. 

Port Jefferson edged Southampton by 2 runs earlier in the week and then followed it with a 2-run victory over John Glenn two days later, but the Mariners bats spoke first. 

Southampton jumped out to a 3-run lead after two innings scored again in the   fourth inning before the Royals plated one runner with two outs in the bottom of the seventh falling to their visitors 6-3 in the League VII matchup.

The Royals have a full schedule ahead with rain-delayed games earlier in the season has of them slated to play four games in as many days. 

— Photos by Bill Landon