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Milestone

Eagle Scout John Ninia stands by the dogwood trees he planted at Frank Melville Memorial Park. Photo from Jerry Ninia

For one Eagle Scout, earning coveted merit badges has been more than a pastime; it’s been a mission. The undertaking has led him to earn all 137 badges a Scout can receive — an accomplishment only 6 percent of scouts in the nation have achieved, according to the Boy Scouts of America website.

John Ninia, of Poquott, a senior at Ward Melville High School, moved up from Cub Scout to Boy Scout when he was 11 years old. Ninia said it took him six years to earn all 137 badges. A scout needs 21 badges to become an Eagle Scout — 16 being mandatory ones.

“I just went for all of them,” the Troop 70 Eagle Scout said.

When he was 12 years old, Ninia said he attended Boy Scout camp, where his mission to collect every badge first became his goal.

John Ninia, an Eagle Scout in Troop 70, proudly wears his 137 badges. Photo from Jerry Ninia

“I remember after my first week of summer camp, I was on my way home and I was really thrilled,” he said. “Usually you can get five badges if you’re really into it but I got about 11, and my parents mentioned that I could go back for a second week.”

Ninia said he immediately signed up for the second week, and when he earned 20 badges that summer, he said it was a great feeling. The Scout said some merit badges, such as one for art, can take a day and a half, while personal fitness, family life and other badges require more time, even months. He said a scuba badge took several days of training to earn certification, while achieving the water skiing one was the most difficult, but he kept trying until he could stand up on the skis.

Ninia completed three Hornaday projects, which are tasks that involve the environment. He eliminated invasive knotweed, a Japanese plant, at West Meadow Beach, planted trees at Frank Melville Memorial Park and installed a rain garden in the Village of Poquott’s California Park. Working to improve the environment is a passion of his, and he plans to major in environmental studies in college.

Frank Melville Memorial Foundation Park Board President Robert Reuter said Ninia worked diligently to clear a substantial vine-choked area adjacent to the Bates House in the park. His work saved existing trees and allowed for the planting of several native white flowering dogwoods.

“It’s revealing of his commitment that I get calls from John offering to continue the work,” Reuter said. “This young man has a bright future underpinned by his extraordinary personal achievements and service to community.”

Robert Mandell, who was Ninia’s troop leader for the majority of the time he has been in Boy Scouts, said he remembers the teenager coming to him telling him how he earned badges for various activities such as glass blowing and concrete mixing. The former troop leader he said he would question him at length about what he did to earn the badge.

“I quizzed them like the FBI,” Mandell said.

He said he wasn’t surprised when Ninia earned every badge, saying he is a smart, hardworking teenager.

“This young man is driven,” the former troop leader said.

While the experiences earning the badges have provided great memories for Ninia, he said what he has enjoyed most during his Scouting years has been “providing leadership to a group of scouts and helping them with their own ability to rank up.”

“This young man has a bright future underpinned by his extraordinary personal achievements and service to community.”

— Robert Reuter

Despite a busy schedule with school, the cross-country team and DECA, Ninia said it’s important to make time for Scouting.

The high school senior said one can no longer be a scout after 18, but while his days as a scout may be over soon, he hopes to always be a part of the organization in some way, even though he’s not sure about being a troop leader.

“It’s hard, and I do have a lot of stuff and I’m a busy guy, but Scouting is something I’ve loved so I’ve always been able to make time for it,” he said. His advice to other Scouts? “Try your best and shoot for the stars.”

Ninia’s father Jerry said the family, which includes mom Lynn and siblings James and Christina, is proud of their Scout and his accomplishments.

“He’s a good kid,” his father said. “He works very hard He perseveres. He has a can-do attitude. He’s just the kind of guy that makes things happen.”

Achieving merit badges makes a Scout a more well-rounded individual, according to Jerry Ninia.

“When you think about it, 137 merit badges, it touches on everything from art to architecture to woodworking to metalworking to horseback riding to law and medicine to water sports and everything in between,” he said. “You can probably strike up a conversation with anyone as a young adult and speak to anyone from practically any walk of life because you’ll probably feel some commonality.”

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Port Jefferson take share of League VII title after senior day win

Courntey Lewis looks up under the rim amid a swarm of Pierson opponents. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Courtney Lewis drives to the basket. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Entering Port Jefferson’s final regular season game just 34 points away from becoming the 22nd player in Suffolk County girls’ basketball history to reach 2,000 career points, Courtney Lewis admitted she was anxious.

Her Thursday afternoon home game was rescheduled for Friday afternoon, only to be pushed back to a Saturday morning matchup as a result of last week’s snowstorm.

“It was stressful,” she said. “There was this build up, and I was so excited to finally get to the game.

When Lewis joined Port Jefferson’s varsity basketball team six years ago, she couldn’t have predicted the feat she would eventually achieve.

Jillian Colucci moves the ball into Pierson’s zone. Photo by Desireee Keegan

She reached 1,500 career points earlier this season, and at that point she said the thought of reaching 2,000 became a goal. The dream became a tangible milestone when she scored a field goal in the fourth quarter of her team’s 64-30 senior day win over Pierson-Bridgehampton Feb. 11. She finished with 39 points to move her to 2,005 for her career.

“Going into the game I knew I was 34 points away, so I told myself I wouldn’t think about it,” Lewis said. “But then, my coach pulled me out when there was two minutes left in the third quarter and said, ‘Do you know how many point away you are?’ and I said no. He told me I was three points away. I had no idea I was that close.”

Lewis scored the first nine points of the game for the Royals, on two field goals and a three-point play. In the second, she sank six more after converting a turnover and two offensive rebounds into three buckets.

Senior Jillian Colucci said she’s always marveled at what her teammate has been able to do on the court.

“Courtney is absolutely phenomenal,” she said. “When I dish the ball off to her she makes these nearly impossible shots and I just stand there in amazement.”

Jackie Brown looks to make a pass. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Lewis credited her teammates for her success.

“We did really well pushing the ball and looking for open girls,” she said. “We prepared all season and we’re ready to take on the playoffs.”

Several assists and multiple turnovers caused by the Royals’ defense helped her chip away at the 34 points until her goal was met.

“It was on today,” senior Corinne Scannell said. “We were working on our defense a lot in practice and it just shows that hard work pays off. We were able to get more traps and read their offense better. On the press we were also really good.”

Lewis needed three points heading into the final quarter, and after assisting on the first field goal of the quarter, she made a layup at the 5:49 mark to pull her within one point. She sank her 2,000th career point a minute later.

“It’s one of my best memories of basketball so far — being my senior year, my last home game, it’s great,” she said.

Corinne Scannell leaps for the ball at tipoff. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Colucci said the culmination of Lewis’ achievement, senior day and the team’s last game of the regular season made the victory sweeter.

“Being with these girls for the last time on this court, to win, it just tops off the season,” she said. “We had a lot of steals and we played really tough. This is my last sport, my last time playing in the Port Jefferson gym and it’s surreal, but it’s great to do it with these girls.”

With the win, Port Jefferson ended the regular season 15-1 and earned a share of the League VII title with Sayville.

“That was definitely our goal, so it feels incredible to have accomplished it,” Colucci said. “We’re working as hard as ever and I think we’re going to go far. We’re hoping that this isn’t the end.”

Miller Place's Kristin Roberto and Comsewogue's Brooke Cespites fight for possession in a semifinal game. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Comsewogue field hockey has come far this season.

After making it to the playoffs with a 9-5 overall record, the No. 4-ranked Comsewogue Warriors made it past the first round of playoffs for the first time in school history, topping No. 5 Bayport-Blue Point, 1-0.

Unfortunately for the girls, their undefeated semifinal opponent, No. 1-seeded Miller Place, wanted to stay that way, and eliminated the team from the postseason with a 4-0 shutout Monday.

Comsewogue's Brooke Cespites and Miller Place's Arianna Esposito fight for possession in a semifinal match. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Comsewogue’s Brooke Cespites and Miller Place’s Arianna Esposito fight for possession in a semifinal match. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“It’s awesome to make history — I’m really proud of our team,” Comsewogue junior defender Megan Turner said through tears. “It’s awesome. I really love these girls.”

Both teams stormed the field, playing with intensity and pressing for possession.

“I think they came out really, really strong,” Comsewogue head coach Katy Dornicik said. “We didn’t have a lot of scoring opportunities, but I feel like in the middle of the field we were evenly matched, we just didn’t come out strong at the end.”

With 26:42 left to play in the first half, Miller Place senior forward Danielle Powers broke the ice when she scored off a corner with an assist from junior Arianna Esposito.

“A lot of their passes were connecting, they were looking up, which was great,” Miller Place head coach Alana LaMorte said. “That’s what we want to do, and their corners were phenomenal today.”

Comsewogue came through with some big blocks off more corners to stay in the game, but after the Panthers called for a timeout, the team kicked it into high gear, leading to another goal off a corner, this time by senior forward Alyssa Parrella, off an assist from sophomore Crystal Esposito.

Miller Place's Emily Contrelli catches a loose ball in a semifinal game against Comsewogue. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Miller Place’s Emily Contrelli catches a loose ball in a semifinal game against Comsewogue. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Coming out of the halftime break with a 2-0 lead, Miller Place cheered and shouted to build up the intensity as the team took the field. That strategy worked — the last two goals for Miller Place were again scored off of corners. With 13:59 left to play, Parrella found the right corner of the box from the far left side, off an assist from junior Julia Burns, and rounding out the scoring with less than five minutes left to play was Powers, off an assist from the younger Esposito.

“It feels great, but we’re looking forward to the next one,” LaMorte said of the win. “I think they both came out really intense. I do think that Comsewogue really put up a very big fight. It was not easy for us even though the score differential says otherwise. I think both teams came out tight, we just were able to put it in.”

Miller Place moves on to face Rocky Point in the Class B finals on Thursday at Dowling College at 4 p.m., while Dornicik is forced to say goodbye to some of the girls she’s coached since they were in seventh and eighth grade.

“It’s rewarding to see how far they’ve come now that I’m the varsity coach,” she said. “I’m very proud of them.”

Turner said her Warriors team had a lot of confidence coming into the game and believed it could overthrow its No. 1-seeded opponent. She said the team, the coaches and the fans have been nothing but supportive throughout this season’s journey.

“We were all there for each other, we really tried our hardest and this is definitely one of the best teams I’ve ever been on,” she said. “I think it’s a very big self-esteem booster considering how far we made it.”