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Rocky Point boys’ basketball

Trevor Green (left) and Casmere Anthony Leon Morrow. Photo by Richard V. Acritelli

By Richard V. Acritelli

Over the last week, two special students from Rocky Point High School achieved impressive athletic milestones.  Trevor Green and Casmere Anthony Leon Morrow are both young men who are armed with big smiles and a can-do attitude to gain their goals in the swimming pool and basketball court.  These two student-athletes certainly have a bright future after their impressive sporting moments at Rocky Point.

Junior Trevor Green is a two-time Suffolk County champion “B” runner, where he has been All-League, All-County, All-Conference and All-State several times.  He is also a two-time New York State Federation runner who placed 9th this year. 

In addition to running, he is one of the finest swimmers on Long Island and New York State. On Feb. 8, Green became the county champion in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.  He also established new personal best records in front of a packed crowd and wild cheers.

For his brilliance in the pool, Green was given the Suffolk County Most Outstanding Award for Swimming.  Over the next couple of weeks, Green will be training for the New York State swimming championships in Ithaca.  Now a junior with several years of swimming experience, Green placed second as a freshman at Ithaca for the backstroke.  Green also participates in the Three Village Swim Club, where he holds many swimming records at the Stony Brook University pool.

This past summer, Green traveled to the National Select Camp at Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Olympic Training Center.  Already a verbal commit to the University of Minnesota for swimming, this future engineering student is motivated to compete in the 2028 Olympic trials. Green embodies the true ethos of an athletic warrior. His concentration is established not only through his swimming, but also in his ability to juggle the rigors of athletics and attaining quality grades.  A dedicated student-athlete, Green is a kind, considerate and able person who has made the school district proud of his many achievements.  Green has a devoted cheering section from his parents and sister at every competition.

Playing in only his third year of varsity basketball, Morrow recently scored his 1,000th point for the Rocky Point Eagles.   For the last several years at Rocky Point, Morrow flourished under the direction of his coach and guidance counselor James Jordan, who said, “this was truly an amazing accomplishment that was attained in only three years.  He has changed his game to become a better rebounder and has the support of a balanced team around him.  Currently in the county, he is ranked in the top five of scoring leaders, and tenth on Long Island.  In over 22 seasons, it has been my hope to coach a player of Morrow’s caliber.”

 A senior, Morrow is pleased to be preparing for the play-offs with his teammates. Morrow believes his team is usually the “underdog” during many of his games and over the last couple of weeks they have aggressively defeated opposing teams.  

During a home game against Amityville, Morrow scored 28 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists.  An aggressive ball player who likes going to the net to score points, he would like to improve his shooting skills in college.  Already with 1,028 points, Morrow wore a big smile on his face as he described the outstanding landmark of reaching the thousand-point mark, and he was happy that it was scored during a home game.

Athletic Director Jonathan Rufa is impressed with the accomplishments of these students and observed, “It feels like just yesterday that Morrow arrived at our school, presenting a new face of potential for this team.   Morrow is a talented player that has pushed himself to become a 1,000-point scorer.  This basketball triumph demonstrates an immense amount of commitment to this difficult game.”

Alex Merhige blocks Rocky Point’s Jack Costa’s shot. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Harborfields seniors Alex Merhige and Shane Wagner led the way for the top-seeded Tornadoes who blew past host Rocky Point, 64-30, Jan. 31.

League V’s Rocky Point, at 1-9, was no match for Harborfields, which notched its 10th League V victory of the year, to improve to 10-1 with just three games left in the regular season.

Shane Wagner moves the ball. Photo by Bill Landon

Harborfields senior Kyle Stolba sparked the offense early with three straight 3-pointers, and Wagner added a trifecta of his own to lead the Tornadoes to a 29-11 lead after the first quarter.

Always a scoring threat, Rocky Point junior Alec Rinaldi was shut down by the  Tornadoes defense, and wouldn’t find the rim until the second period, where he banked a field goal and a 3-pointer to bring the score to 29-16. Despite holding off Rinaldi, the Tornadoes were limited in scoring.

Wagner tacked on a pair of field goals and another 3-pointer, and Stolba, Merhige and sophomore Pat Williamson hit for two, for a 35-20 lead into the locker room.

“Our goal was to increase the tempo of the game — speed it up as we pressed them the whole game —  and we got a lot of turnovers because of that,” Wagner said. “I thought we played well on defense and we held Rinaldi.”

Merhige said as long as his team plays solid defense and protects the ball, the scoring will come.

“I thought we moved the ball really well, we got some open threes,” Merhige said. “We were finding people on the fast break, we played good [defense and did well] rebounding.”

Rinaldi opened the second half with a pair of 3-pointers, and was fouled driving the lane, netting a pair of free throws for all of the eight points the Eagles could muster in the third quarter. He finished the game with 13 points, and junior David Apperson added eight.

Ahead 56-28 going into the final eight minutes of play, Harborfields’ head coach John Tampori let his bench players take it from there. Sophomores Michael McDermott and Ryan Rittberger each banked two points, Williamson struck again and junior Luca Cordova hit a field goal for Harborfields’ final points in the contest.

Rocky Point’s Alec Rinaldi shoots while Harborfields’ Joe Kelly reaches for the block. Photo by Bill Landon

Wagner led Harborfields with 14 points, Merhige finished with 12 and Stolba tacked on 11.

Tampori said he employed a different defensive strategy that he hadn’t used earlier in the season.

‘We threw a couple of new things out today — like we usually don’t press full court, but we did today because we thought we had an advantage there,” he said. “One of our goals is to be as best as we can be on defense. There’s always room for improvement.”

With the win, Harborfields is 15-2 overall, but is tied with Amityville at 10-1 in the league standings. The Tornadoes will host Miller Place today, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m.

“We shot the ball well tonight, so we got everyone in tonight, which is a great feeling,” Tampori said. “With three games left before the playoffs, we’ll focus on making good decisions with the basketball and playing good sound positional defense.”

Last season, Merhige was sidelined with an injury, and Harborfields won two playoff games to become the Suffolk County champion, before falling to Elmont in the Long Island title game, 41-32, after edging the team 61-60 earlier that season.

With a healthy Merhige back in the lineup, prospects for the postseason may be even brighter this time around.