NEWS DESK
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LONG ISLAND'S HOME COURT ADVANTAGE!
1. LuHi (22-2)
2. Amityville (27-2)
3. Hills East (23-4)
4. Uniondale (21-2)
5. St. Anthony's (19-8)
6. Garden City (22-1)
7. Chaminade (20-6)
8. Deer Park (20-3)
9. Bellport (20-2)
10. Floral Park (20-3)
11. Holy Trinity (17-8)
12. LWA (20-6)
13. Knox (25-3)
14. Sewanhaka (19-3)
15. Brentwood (16-7)
16. Baldwin (15-7)
FINAL 2017-18
SWEET 16
COACHES POLL
"THE TIME IS ALWAYS RIGHT TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT"
- Martin Luther King Jr.
OUR 2018 CHAMPIONS
NYSPHSAA/STATE
CLASS A: Amityville
NYSAIS/STATE
CLASS AA: LuHi
CLASS B: LWA
LONG ISLAND
CLASS AA: HHH East
CLASS A: Amityville
CLASS B: Center Moriches
CLASS C: Greenport
CLASS D: Bridgehampton
NSCHSAA: St. Anthony's
PSAA: Knox
NASSAU/Section 8
CLASS AA: Uniondale
CLASS A: Garden City
CLASS B: Malverne
CLASS C: East Rockaway
SUFFOLK/Section 11
OVERALL: Amityville
CLASS AA: HHH East
CLASS A: Amityville
CLASS B: Center Moriches
CLASS C: Greenport
CLASS D: Bridgehampton
TWO MILLION VISITORS!
SWEET 16 REPORT
#12 Holy Trinity 67
Msgr Farrell 66
Good road win for the Titans over a good Staten Island team that lost to eventual Staten Island Borough Champion St. Peter's in OT and is defending CHSAA Class A State Champion. 2/18
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Albany Academy 66
#13 LWA 60
The defending New York Federation Class A State Champions held off the Tigers in an excellent game.
STORY 2/17
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#5 Chaminade 79
#10 Holy Trinity 61
#14 St. Anthony's 70 Kellenberg 41
When the Friars play like this, it's hard to believe they've lost 7 games even with their tough non-league schedule. BOX 2/16
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#9 Knox 82
Martin Luther 47
The Falcons won the PSAA Championship easily as expected, advancing to NYSAIS Class C State Playoffs as one of the favorites. 2/15
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STATE RANKINGS
In the latest New York State rankings, a loss by Mt. Vernon moves LuHi into the #1 spot in Class AA, with Hills East in the #7 spot and Uniondale #10. In Class A, Garden City is #3, Amityville #5, and Chaminade #7. Center Moriches is in the #7 spot in Class B, and Greenport is #5 in Class C. This week's COMPLETE RANKINGS
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#5 Deer Park 71
#4 Bellport 56
In a packed gym and classic big game atmosphere, the Clippers could do nothing right and the Falcons took full advantage, surging ahead to a big lead and Bellports horrendous foul shooting prevented them from sustaining any meaningful rally. STORY BOX 2/10
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#12 Holy Trinity 71
#10 St. Anthony's 56
The Titans completed the season sweep of the Friars in impressive fashion and kept pace with Chaminade, both teams with only one league loss. Big time performance by Tyler Small, who finished with 34 points. BOX 2/9
#14 Central Islip 56
Northport 37
The Musketeers avenged their only league loss with a dominating performance, finishing 17-3 on the season. BOX 2/9
Longwood 56
#16 Brentwood 49
Suffolk League 1 has been fantastic this season, but you'd have to say Longwood has been the biggest surprise, creating a three way tie for first with the win. STORY BOX 2/9
#16 LWA 67
Far Rockaway 45
The PSAL Class A school was 17-0 coming into this game. 2/9
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#2 Hills East 76
#7 Smithtown West 57
The main event of the evening was a bit anti-climactic. The Bulls had given the Thunderbirds a good game at Hills East, and led at the half in this one on their home floor, but Hills exploded for 49 second half points to put the game away and complete an undefeated league season. STORY BOX 2/8
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#13 Sewanhaka 55
Hewlett 52
The Indians completed their first ever undefeated league season and improved to 16-2 overall. BOX 2/7
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Copiague 52
#7 Smithtown West 45
For much of the season, Copiague just wasn't that good - rare for one of those programs that is almost always good. But the Eagles have turned it around, winning 6 of their last 8 including this big upset and have qualified for the playoffs. A dangerous first round matchup! BOX 2/6
#14 Central Islip 46
Walt Whitman 39
The first place Musketeers had their work cut out for them against the Wildcats. Not only was it a tough League 2 road game against a team fighting to make the playoffs, but it was the final home game for beloved Whitman Coach Tom Fitzgerald after 25 years at the school, guaranteeing a big and enthusiastic home crowd.
STORY SHORTLY BOX 2/6
#9 Amityville 85
Bayport-Blue Point 60
The Warriors flexed their muscles once again, dominating a good BBP team and winning their 10th straight. BOX 2/6
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St. Francis Prep 66
#10 St. Anthony's 51
SFP is a solid team, but they have lost to both Holy Trinity and Amityville this season. The up and down Friars need to win games like this. 2/5
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#14 St. Anthony's 54
#4 Chaminade 47
The Friars had lost their last three big games, one of them at home, but Jon Harewood, who missed the road loss to Chaminade, came back from the flu to lead them to victory in this one, scoring a game high 23 points to get St. Anthony's back in the race in the NSCHSAA. STORY BOX 2/2
#8 Garden City 48
Elmont 44
The first place Trojans had to beat the defending champions on the road to stay undefeated, and after trailing by as many as 10 points, rallied late in front of a big Elmont crowd for the win. James Cashwell's baseline jumper and back to back steals and fast break baskets by Andrew DeSantis and Matt Granville gave Garden City the lead with 1:44 left and they held off the Spartans from there. BOX 2/2
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#1 LuHi 79
St. Raymonds 49
The Crusaders are on a roll now, registering their 10th consecutive victory with an impressive road win.
Tyson Etienne led the way with 22 points, Donatas Kupsas had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore sensation Andre Curbelo 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists. LuHi is now the #2 ranked Class AA team in New York State, trailing only Mount Vernon. BOX 2/1
#5 Bellport 82
Hills West 51
The Clippers get more impressive with every win, rolling over a good Colts team and improving to 17-0, one of only two undefeated teams left on Long Island. Bellport is now the 15th ranked Class AA team in New York State. BOX 2/1
CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
#3 Uniondale 58
Baldwin 46
A Bruin rally brought them within 2 with 5 minutes to play, but the Knights went on a 14-4 closing run that carried them to the Nassau County/Section 8 Title and a spot in the Long Island Class AA Championship Game against Section 11 Champion Hills East.
STORY BOX 3/3
CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
#6 Garden City 72
#13 Floral Park 68 2OT
Two good, evenly matched teams battled it out from start to finish, with the Trojans pulling it out in double overtime to remain unbeaten and claim the Nassau County/Section 8 Championship and a spot in the Long Island Class A Regional Final against Section 11 Class A Champion Amityville. STORY 1 STORY 2 BOX 3/3
SECTIONAL DATA
SMALL SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP
Malverne 60
East Rockaway 48
The Class C Champion Rocks took a 24-19 halftime lead, but freshman Michael Warren Jr. and sophomore Jayden Seraphin led a third quarter charge that carried the Class B Mules to the title. East Rockaway's Sky Mosley led all scorers with 17 points. Malverne's Warren finished with 10 points and 6 assists and Donovan Ishmael chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds. STORY BOX 3/1
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CLASS A SEMIFINALS
In perhaps one of the most dramatic playoff doubleheaders every played, Garden City's Matt Granville, not known for his foul shooting, stepped to the foul line shooting 1 and 1 trailing by a point with 0.3 seconds on the clock and knocked down both free throws to give the Trojans a dramatic come from behind victory over Elmont, and then in the nightcap, trailing by 4 with 3.8 seconds to play, Floral Park's Frank Phelan raced down court and hit a running three pointer, then stole the inbound pass and went up for the game winner, drawing a 3 shot foul just before the buzzer sounded. He missed the first free throw, but gathered himself and sank the last two to give the Knights an incredible come from behind win over Sewanhaka.
#6 Garden City 39
Elmont 38
#13 Floral Park 57
#12 Sewanhaka 56
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CLASS AA SEMIFINALS
#3 Uniondale 61
Westbury 44
Suffocating defense against the defending champions sparked top seed Uniondale to a spot in the Class AA Title Game against arch rival Baldwin. Crowd a no-show?
Baldwin 50
Massapequa 41
The Cinderella run for the Chiefs is over, setting up a classic Baldwin vs Uniondale matchup in the County Championship Game.
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CLASS B CHAMPIONSHIP
Malverne 60
Oyster Bay 55
A terrific back and forth championship game in a packed house between two good and evenly balanced teams, the Mules take the title over the two time defending champions.
CLASS A QUARTERFINALS
#7 Garden City 52 Bethpage 42
A big third quarter gave the Golden Eagles the lead, but the fourth quarter was all Garden City. BOX 2/22
#11 Sewanhaka 55 Friends Academy 47
A banged up Sewanhaka team rallied to advance. DETAILS LATER BOX 2/22
#16 Floral Park 70
Great Neck South 35
The Knights were very impressive, blowing it open with a 21-9 second quarter and closing it out with a 17-6 fourth. STORY BOX 2/22
Elmont 79
Valley Stream South 49
The defending champions are ready to defend, rolling over a very good Falcons team. BOX 2/22
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CLASS AA QUARTERFINALS
#3 Uniondale 80
Port Washington 46
Tight at the half, the Knights unleashed a 44-14 second half onslaught.
BOX 2/21
Westbury 75
Oceanside 55
The defending Champion Green Dragons steadily pulled away. DETAILS LATER BOX 2/12
Massapequa 62
Syosset 58 OT
This year's Cinderella team has emerged! The Chiefs finished the regular season 8-11, upset Farmingdale, who had swept them during the regular season, and now #3 seed Syosset in OT. BOX 2/21
Baldwin 61
Calhoun 48
If you've never been to a Baldwin home game, you've gotta go! This was a tight one most of the way and the gym was rocking, but the Bruins pulled away down the stretch. DETAILS LATER BOX 2/21
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CLASS B SEMIFINALS
Oyster Bay 68
Carle Place 52
It was a tight game through three quarters, but the Baymen pulled away in the fourth. STORY BOX
Malverne 67
Wheatley 38
The Wildcats did not roll over, keeping within striking distance through three quarters, but a 27-9 fourth spelled their doom. STORY BOX
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CLASS AA FIRST ROUND
Massapequa 45
Farmingdale 39
Host Farmingdale swept the season series but the Chiefs turned the tables, storming from behind with an 18-5 third quarter and holding off the Dalers from there. BOX 2/16
Port Washington 69
Valley Str Central 55
The Vikings were impressive - in control most of the way to pick up their 4th straight win. BOX 2/16
Calhoun 78
East Meadow 63
Calhoun quietly picked up their 8th win in their last 9 to emerge as a dark horse in the playoffs. STORY BOX 2/16
Oceanside 54
Hempstead 48
Watch out for Oceanside. They started out 4-1 but were up and down after that, losing to some very good teams and playing without super sophomore Jake Tavroff for a stretch, but they’re putting it together now, picking up their 4th win in their last 5. BOX 2/16
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CLASS A FIRST ROUND
Top Seeds Roll
Long Island's #8 ranked and Section 8's #1 seeded Garden City BOX, #11 ranked and 2 seeded Sewanhaka BOX, and 16th ranked and 3 seeded Floral Park BOX all lived up to their advance billing, racking up impressive wins to advance to the quarterfinals. 2/15
Elmont 50
South Side 41
South Side battled and stayed within striking distance, but the 4th seeded Spartans were the better team. BOX
Valley Stream South 69
Hewlett 63
A close, hard fought game won by higher seed. BOX 2/15
Great Neck South 60
Roslyn 45
The Rebels were impressive, rolling against their rivals in what was expected to be a tight game. STORY BOX 2/15
Friends Academy 51
Roosevelt 47
Favored Roosevelt was shorthanded and rose to the occasion, but the Quakers rallied for the win. STORY BOX
Bethpage 70
CS Harbor 69 2OT
An 8/9 tournament matchup is usually a good one, and this year’s Section 8 Class A 8/9 matchup between Bethpage and host Cold Spring Harbor didn’t disappoint. The teams went back and forth with great intensity, taking turns with the lead through 4 regulation periods and two overtimes, and then after both had struggled from the line, two big free throws by Bora Soybas gave Bethpage a 6 point advantage with 1:48 remaining and that proved to be enough to hold off a late Cold Spring Harbor rally. MORE LATER. BOX 2/15
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4 of 5 Favorites Advance
The seeds in the outbracket games all held up except the 16-17, and that couldn't have been closer. The most eye-catching win was Hewlett's win over Locust Valley. After a great start to the season, the Bulldogs finished it 2-5, but it looks like they might be back on track. SCORES AND BOXES 2/13
Needed A Win To Get In!
The following teams needed to win their last regular season game to qualify for the playoffs.
Here are the results:
Bellmore beat Plainedge 58-35 BOX
Island Trees beat Clarke 72-35 BOX
South Side beat Carey 59-35 BOX
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Oyster Bay 62
Cold Spring Harbor 51
Oyster Bay closed out the regular season with 8 straight wins, avenging both of their losses to finish in a first place tie with Cold Spring Harbor in Conference ABC and 17-2 overall. BOX 2/8
Locust Valley 45
East Rockaway 38
Locust Valley had dropped two straight, but a clutch 45-38 win over East Rockaway got them into the playoffs. BOX 2/8
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Oyster Bay 66
Malverne 63
Two of Nassau's top Class B teams faced off and it was a good one, with the Baymen extending their winning steak to 7 games and ending Malverne's at 8! BOX 2/6
Baldwin 66
East Meadow 44
Often described as a down year for the Bruins after their slow start, they have improved to 11-0 in conference and Coach Darius Burton picked up his 300th career victory. A high seed in the playoffs awaits! BOX 2/6
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Portledge 67
Kennedy Catholic 61
The Class C PSAA team has some talented youngsters and has done well in league play, going 7-2 so far, but they haven't had much success with their beefed up non-league schedule . Put this one in the plus column. 8th grade phenom Zaire Baines, who is second on Long Island in scoring, had 41 points. He also had 30 in a loss to Hempstead. 2/5
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LWA 63
Saunders 49
The Tigers are starting to get back into a groove and are knocking on the door of the Sweet 16 again, defeating a tough Section 1 team and fellow Class B power Sacred Heart before that. BOX 2/3
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South Side 46
Jericho 36
Two teams still hoping to make the playoffs faced off, and the Cyclones jumped out to a big lead and held off the Jayhawks behind 26 points and 10 rebounds from Ryan O'Shea. Brandon Weiss, who got Jericho back into the game after their slow start, finished with 15. BOX 2/2
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Malverne 61
Cold Spring Harbor 55
The Mules pulled within 1 game of first place CSH in Nassau Conference ABC and gained a split in the season series. They also set up a showdown at Oyster Bay on 2/6 in the battle for Nassau County Class B supremacy. BOX 2/1
MILESTONES
Savion Lewis continued his incredible season, scoring 40 points, including the 1,500th of his career, in a Hills East win over Huntington. It's his fifth 40+ game of the season ........ Malverne state championship Coach Darrol Lopez, who led the Mules to seven Nassau County Championships over an eight year span and is contending for another county title this season, picked up the 250th win of his career...... In what seems like the blink of an eye, Chaminade head coach Robert Paul registered his 100th career victory and has his Flyers contending for their third NSCHSAA Championship in the last four years....
Long Island's McDonalds All-American Nominees
We're very pleased and proud to announce that Savion Lewis and Donatas Kupsas have both been recognized as among the finest high school basketball players in the country by receiving McDonald's All-American nominations. They are now among a select group of players from which the participants in the 2018 McDonald's All-American Game will be chosen. Our enthusiastic congratulations to both on this great honor!
MILESTONES
Two of Long Island's all-time greatest coaches, who are both famous for putting championship caliber teams out on the floor year after year, both reached big milestones this season. Uniondale Coach Tom Diana registered his 350th career victory and has this year's squad at 17-1 and Baldwin Coach Darius Burton registered his 300th career victory and has his team undefeated in league play........ Amityville's Josh Serrano scored his 1500th career point this season and has led his Warriors to an 18-1 record so far....... Bellport's Jarrell White picked up his 1000th career point and his Clippers are 17-0 so far this season. We don't know his career rebounding total, but it has to be equally impressive...... Matt Johnson won the 100th game of his varsity coaching career and has his Valley Stream South squad at 15-3 this season and on their way to their 6th consecutive playoff appearance. 2/7
Very Sad Times
Sad to report that three Long Island basketball icons have passed away in just the last week. The most recent long time Deer Park coach John Scanlon, then before that Suffolk County basketball fixture Doc Farrell and former Babylon star Brian Vickers. There will be a ceremony for Brian February 9th from 6 to 8 pm at the First Baptist Church in Bay Shore. 2/1
NYSPHSAA CLASS D
REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
Bridgehampton 50
Livingston Manor 48
The 9 time New York State Champion Killer Bees advanced to the Regional Final, rallying past the Section 9 Champions. STORY 1 STORY 2
SUFFOLK COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
#7 Amityville 77
#2 Hills East 69
Nobody but the players, coaches, and fans of the Warriors was sure how good they were, despite their impressive record, because they played an undemanding schedule, but we're all believers now after a big crowd witnessed them pull off the impressive upset. Josh Serrano had a very big fourth quarter to carry them to victory after the Thunderbirds had rallied to take the lead. STORY 3/4
SECTIONAL DATA
CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
#2 Hills East 74
#4 Deer Park 52
Over 4,000 people packed the Farmingdale State College gym and were treated to a vintage performance from Savion Lewis, who led all scorers with 40 points and the Thunderbirds to their second consecutive Section 11 Class AA Title. STORY BOX One last big game in Suffolk remains - Friday’s showdown with Class A Champion Amityville in the final of the Suffolk County Tournament of Champions. The Warriors have won the tournament more than any other team, and over the last 25 years, the large school has won the Championship Game 13 times and the small school 12, so this one is guaranteed to be another barn burner. Game time is 7 PM at Farmingdale State. Then back in the State Class AA Tournament, Hills goes on to face the Section 8 Champion in the Long Island Regional Championship Game on March 10th, also at Farmingdale State, and Amityville will face the Class A Champion that same day. The winners of the two LIC games advance to the New York State Final four. 2/27
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SUFFOLK COUNTY TOC
SEMIFINAL
#7 Amityville 75
Center Moriches 60
The Class A Warriors rallied to defeat the Class B Champion Red Devils to capture the Suffolk County Small School Championship and advance to the TOC Final. BOX STORY 2/26
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CLASS AA SEMIFINALS
#2 Hills East 87 Brentwood 67
Hills East raced out to a 12-0 lead and although the Indians rallied and stayed within striking distance most of the way, they never got completely back into it and the Thunderbirds put them away in the second half.
#4 Deer Park 70 #6 Bellport 63
The Falcons went for the early knockout, but the Clippers rallied and it was a battle right down to the end. STORY BOX 2/25
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SUFFOLK COUNTY TOC
QUARTERFINALS
Center Moriches 81 Greenport 72
The Class B Champion Red Devils were dominant in the first half, building a big lead, but foul trouble struck and the Class C Champion Porters trimmed it to 11 at the half and then came roaring from behind in the second half to draw within 3 behind super sophomore Akeem Anderson, who scored 20 second half points. Center Moriches withstood the onslaught and big shots down the stretch by Sean Braithwaite, who came off the bench after sitting with foul trouble, and Troy Goode secured their spot in the TOC Semifinals against Class A Champion Amityville. Great crowd and great atmosphere! STORY BOX 2/24
CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
#8 Amityville 83
Westhampton 66
Westhampton came to play, jumping out to a surprising 9-3 lead, but a Braden Tannis jumper and a steal and basket by Myles Goddard got Amityville rolling and the Warriors rallied to take a 9 point lead at the half. They continued to find ways to score, putting 4 players into double figures led by Josh Serrano, and clamped down defensively to pull away from the Hurricanes and claim their first Section 11 Class A Title in five years.
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CLASS B CHAMPIONSHIP
Center Moriches 71
Babylon 59
A convincing win and back to back titles for the Red Devils, with two exciting matchups ahead - Greenport in the Suffolk TOC and the Nassau B Champion Malverne Mules in the State Tournament. BOX STORY 2/20
CLASS A SEMIFINALS
#8 Amityville 76
Kings Park 61
The Kingsmen battled, but the Warriors were in control the whole way. BOX 2/20
Westhampton 60
Harborfields 57
Harborfields took an 8 point third quarter lead, but the Hurricanes rallied to advance. BOX 2/20
SUFFOLK TOC
Greenport 67
Bridgehampton 41
SECTION 11 CLASS AA QUARTERFINALS
#2 Hills East 84
#14 Ward Melville 72
Excellent game with outstanding players on both sides, but the Thunderbirds were in control most of the way and fought off numerous rallies by the Patriots. Ward Melville should have had a higher seed in our opinion. FULL STORY BOX 2/20
#4 Deer Park 57
Longwood 52
This was a battle from start to finish, with Longwood up at the half. Great playoff action. BOX 2/20
#6 Bellport 72
Smithtown West 60
Clippers starting to look like themselves again against the shorthanded Bulls. BOX 2/20
#8 Amityville 76
Kings Park 61
The Kingsmen hung tough, but the Warriors were in control the whole way. BOX 2/20
Brentwood 73
#10 Central Islip 66
Zed Key came off the bench to spark the Indians to a come from behind win. Great game! Great atmosphere! FULL STORY LATER BOX 2/20
CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIP
Greenport 71
Stony Brook School 49
It's a pleasure to watch the Porters at work. Talented and well coached, they dominated a good Stony Brook team that had won five straight Class C titles. STORY BOX 2/18
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CLASS B SEMIFINAL
Babylon 67
Mattituck 42
The Panthers jumped out to a nice lead and rolled, claiming a spot in the Section 11 Class B Championship Game against top seed Center Moriches. BOX 2/17
CLASS AA FIRST ROUND
#6 Bellport 71
North Babylon 62
The Bulldogs put up a good fight, but the Clippers bounced back nicely from their first loss of the season and advanced. BOX 2/17
#12 Central Islip 67
Patchogue-Medford 38
A very impressive performance by the Musketeers, who dominated in every phase of the game. STORY LATER BOX 2/17
#15 Ward Melville 66
Hills West 50
With big man Alex Sobel healthy and back in the line-up, the Patriots are a tough out, leading this one wire to wire. BOX STORY 2/17
Smithtown West 73
Northport 56
The Bulls, who had lost two straight and fallen out of the Sweet 16 for the first time, surged in front and never looked back. BOX 2/17
Longwood 67
Connetquot 55
The T-Birds came into the game having won 6 of their last 7, but the League 1 Co-Champion Lions jumped out in front 22-5 and held off a late rally. BOX 2/17
Brentwood 59
Copiague 53
The Brentwood big men were in almost constant foul trouble, and the Eagles took advantage, but when they were on the floor, Zed Key and Bryce Harris were very effective, providing the spark that carried the Indians to victory. MORE LATER BOX 2/17
CLASS A FIRST ROUND
#8 Amityville 91
Southampton 61
The Warriors are at the top of their game right now, rolling past the defending champions. BOX
Kings Park 76
Bayport-Blue Point 73 OT
The last time Kings Park played for a Section 11 Class A Championship, they had to get by BBP and then Amityville. They cleared the first hurdle, staging a dramatic comeback capped off by Zach Wolf's floater at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime, and now the big one, the 20-1 #1 seed Amityville Warriors at Amityville. BOX STORY SOON 2/16
Westhampton 54
John Glenn 51
The Hurricanes are using a tried and true recipe for playoff success - a talented senior laden squad, and continue to build on their 18-2 regular season, eliminating a tough John Glenn squad by scoring 40 of their 54 points in the second half. STORY BOX 2/16
Harborfields 60
East Islip 56 OT
Harborfields has a great basketball tradition, and the current squad is determined to live up to it, winning a tough playoff road game to advance to the semifinals. BOX 2/16
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Westhampton 62
Harborfields 57
The Hurricanes held off a hot team and clinched first place in Suffolk League 5. BOX 2/12
East Hampton 57
Kings Park 43
The Bonackers led wire to wire, clinching a playoff spot and handing the Kingsmen their first home loss of the season. BOX 2/12
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Ward Melville 64
Sachem East 51
Sachem East’s inspired run to the playoffs, which included upset wins over Brentwood, Longwood, and Pat-Med and brought them within one game of qualifying, ended at the hands of the Patriots, who trailed at the half but rallied and pulled away in an exciting season finale for both teams. Trevor Cronin was the star, leading the Ward Melville rally with 16 second half points and Robert Soto also had a big second half with 10 points. The win pulled the Patriots into a three way tie with Longwood and Brentwood for first place in Suffolk League 1 - the only appropriate finish to a dog fight of a season in Long Island’s most competitive league. The game also marked the return of Ward Melville big man Alex Sobel from injury. He showed some signs of rust but had a big impact, blocking shots and dominating the boards whenever he was on the floor. BOX 2/9
Hills West 85
Comsewogue 80 OT
Facing elimination, Comsewogue rallied valiantly but fell to the Colts in overtime. BOX 2/8
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Greenport 100
Southold 50
The 11th straight win for the Porters. The 5th ranked Class C team in New York State improved to 17-2.
BOX 2/7
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Sachem East 54
Longwood 49
The Flaming Arrows registered their third straight upset, knocking the Lions out of first place. BOX 2/2
NYSPHSAA Long Island Regional Championships
The games between Section 8 and Section 11 teams in the NYSPHSAA State Basketball Tournament have always been considered Long Island Championship Games to us, but officially, they were Regional Semifinals or Regional Finals, and no championship trophies were awarded and no MVPs named or All-Tournament Teams selected.
That all changes this year. LongIslandBasketball.com, in conjunction with Sections 8 and 11, will recognize the winners as Long Island Champions and present awards at the conclusion of the Championship games. We are honored and excited to be part of it! The gyms are always packed and the atmosphere electric, so make sure you get to the games early so you can enjoy Long Island Championship Basketball one last time before our winners head upstate in pursuit of a New York State Championship! See you there!
NEW YORK KNICKS
COACHES WORKSHOP
We are hosting a Free Coaches Education Workshop this coming Saturday, March 10th from 8:45am to 1pm in Brentwood, with guest speakers from the Hospital for Special Surgery, Positive Coaching Alliance, and Knicks/Liberty Legends John Wallace, Sue Wicks and Kym Hampton. The event will include breakfast, door prizes, and giveaways! CLICK HERE To Register. The clinic is presented by the Hospital for Special Surgery-Youth Basketball Leadership Series.
CHSAA PLAYOFFS
CLASS A STATE SEMIFINALS
Park School 51
#9 St. Anthony's 40
The Friars faced a big and talented team from Buffalo with wins over Iona Prep, Section 6 Class AA Champion Niagara Falls, and three time defending Upstate CHSAA Champion Canisius and battled them from start to finish before falling. STORY BOX 3/3
NYSAIS PLAYOFFS
CLASS B CHAMPIONSHIP
#11 LWA 51
Collegiate 44
LWA held off the perennial New York City private school power and six time Federation State Champions to advance to the New York State Federation TOC Class B Final Four in Glens Falls, where they will take on the PSAL Champion in pursuit of their third Federation title. BOX STORY 2/26
CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIP
Masters 74 #10 Knox 71
The Knox School's dream season and the prospect of back to back Long Island Class C Private School State Champions came to an end in a terrific game that came down to the final shot. BOX SCORE STORY 2/26
Lewis Nominated For New York State's
Mr. Basketball
Hills East's returning First Team All-New York State guard Savion Lewis is one of 7 candidates nominated for New York State's Mr. Basketball award, given annually to the state's player of the year and presented by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York. Of the players nominated, Lewis ranks first in scoring at 34 ppg and is second in both assist and steals. Previous award winners include Hills West's Tobias Harris and Amityville's Jason Fraser.
NYSAIS PLAYOFFS
CLASS B STATE SEMIFINALS
#15 LWA 56
Dwight 48
LWA is one win away from back to back NYSAIS State Championships and a birth in the New York State Federation TOC Class B Final Four. 2/24
CLASS C STATE SEMIFINALS
Knox 98
Staten Island Acad 61
Knox continues its march towards a first ever State Championship.
...........................
CLASS B FIRST ROUND
#15 LWA 58
Trinity 40
LWA is the #1 seed and was impressive in their first round game against a team from the toughest private school league. 2/21
CLASS C FIRST ROUND
#9 Knox 76
Loyola 57
Top seeded Knox rolled in their opener.
BOX STORY 2/22
Masters 73
Portledge 48
The Portledge program has taken a big step forward and has some talented youngsters, but they faced the #2 seed and were overmatched. 2/22
..................................................
MILESTONES
Great Neck South Head Coach Steve Leibertz picked up his 400th career victory this season while leading the Rebels to a Nassau Conference AA3 Championship STORY ..... Long Island's last undefeated team,
the 28-0 1998 New York Federation State Championship team from
Westhampton, held their 20 year reunion. STORY..... Walt Whitman coach Tom Fitzpatrick retired after 19 years as head coach and 25 with the school STORY..... Jim Lynch and Frank Taplin, the two coaches that presided over the Golden Age of West Babylon basketball, had the court at the high school named in their honor STORY....... Joe Lores, who coached East Rockaway for 35 years, is honored. STORY ..... Nick Thomas, the Center Moriches Head Coach and director of the Long Island Elite AA program, picked up his 100th career victory..... Junior Sean Braithwaite from Center Moriches, and seniors Jake Gaudiello from Westhampton, Julien Hakimian from Great Neck South, and Will Martin from Pierson all reached 1000 points in their careers this season.....
THROUGH FEBRUARY
Once again, Long Island Boys Varsity teams have built an insurmountable lead over their New York City counterparts in the season series between the two regions through February. Feb highlights include LuHi’s win over St. Raymond’s, LWA’s win over Far Rockaway, Holy Trinity’s win over Monsignor Farrell, and LWA again in their win over 6 time Federation Class B State Champion Collegiate. The big ones still remain, but even an unlikely NYC sweep would leave them far behind.
THROUGH JANUARY
It seems inevitable that New York City boys varsity basketball teams will eventually break through and win a season series against Long Island after losing 10 straight, and it was beginning to look like this might be the year after the City reeled off 5 straight wins in early January to take a rare series lead, but Long Island teams closed out the month on a run, with Kellenberg’s win over St. John’s Prep, Holy Trinity’s win over St. Francis Prep, LuHi’s win over Cardinal Hayes, and Bellports win over Roosevelt of the PSAL carrying Long Island to a solid 8 game lead through January.
PRESEASON
As you probably know, we track the season series between the two regions annually, recording the results of all boys high school varsity games, and we're very proud to say that Long Island racked up another impressive win this past season to take their 9th straight victory in the series. Unfortunately, the season ended with LuHi's loss to Lincoln in the Federation Class AA State Championship Game, but it was an otherwise dominating +30 game margin by Long Island teams, an all-time record. By the way, one of the common myths about this series is that Long Island teams play down, and that's why we dominate. In fact, the opposite is true. If the match-ups aren't at the same level, which most are, then usually Long Island teams play up! Most often, it's our Class A teams playing NYC AAs. Yet we still win the series year after year!
PLAYOFFS
LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP
#9 St. Anthony's 63
#5 Chaminade 60
It was the matchup that everyone projected at the beginning of the season and it lived up to the long buildup, with favored Chaminade jumping out to a big lead and the underdog Friars roaring from behind to the take their second NSCHSAA title in the last three years and advance to the CHSAA Class A State Championship Tournament. STORY 1 STORY 2 BOX 2/27
...............................................
SEMIFINALS
#13 St. Anthony's 53
#12 Holy Trinity 48
The Titans swept the season series, but the Friars led this tight battle most of the way, advancing to the Championship Game for the second time in the last three years. STORY BOX 2/25
#5 Chaminade 73
St. Mary's 43
The Flyers continued their quest for back to back NSCHSAA crowns, blowing the game open with a 25-6 third quarter after taking a 9 point lead at the half. Kieran Dorney and Michael O’Connell combined for 32 points for the 20-5 top seed and Brendan McGuire added 9 points and 7 rebounds. BOX 2/25
...............................
SWEET 16 REPORT
LUHI INVITATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#1 LuHi 71
Albany Academy 49
The Crusaders, New York State's #1 ranked Class AA team, improved to 22-2, rolling over the defending Class A Fed Champs! BOX 2/24
.....................................................
NSCHSAA PLAYOFFS
QUARTERFINALS
St. Anthony's 55 Kellenberg 44
It was a season of haves and have nots in the NSCHSAA, with none of the top three teams losing a game to the bottom four. The Friars were one of those three and advanced to the semifinals against a game but rebuilding Kellenberg squad. BOX 2/23
St Mary’s 72
St. John The Baptist 42
The Gaels, clearly the fourth best team in the league, might be peaking at the right time. BOOK 2/23
.................................................
FIRST ROUND
Kellenberg 76
St. Dominic 69
After splitting their regular season games, the Firebirds and the Bayhawks kicked off the Catholic League playoffs and Kellenberg advanced with a rousing second half rally. BOX 2/21
NSCHSAA
LONG ISLAND CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#3 Amityville 84
#5 Garden City 71
ALL TOURNAMEMT TEAM
Andrew DeSantis, Garden City
Jake Gaudiello, Westhampton
Frank Phelan, Floral Park
Jayson Robinson, Amityville
Josh Serrano, Amityville MVP
LONG ISLAND CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#4 Hills East 69
#2 Uniondale 54
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Danny Ashley, Uniondale
Julien Crittendon, Hills East
Nasim Cylin, Baldwin
Malik Edmead, Deer Park
Savion Lewis, Hills East MVP
LONG ISLAND CLASS B
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Center Moriches 73
Malverne 60
When CM's Sean Braithwaite is at his best, there are few better, and he was at his best tonight, shredding the Malverne defense in the early going and imposing his will on defense and on the boards, and he and the rest of the potent Red Devil attack built a big lead, but if you know Long Island basketball history, you know that the best Malverne teams are relentless on defense and never ever back down, and this year's young and talented squad lived up to that, fighting their way back into the game before MVP Braithwaite asserted himself again and led Center Moriches to their second consecutive Long Island Class B Championship. STORY 3/6
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Sean Braithwaite, CM MVP
Tyiquon Nix, Center Moriches
Joe Rende, Babylon
Anthony Reilly, Oyster Bay
Michael Warren Jr., Malverne
LONG ISLAND CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Greenport 69
East Rockaway 43
This season’s Greenport team seemed destined to be Long Island Class C Champions almost from the start. They rolled over defending champion Stony Brook back in December, and later that month, posted big wins over defending Class B Champion Center Moriches and Class A contender Bayport-Blue Point. Super sophomore Ahkee Anderson is their leading scorer and undisputed leader, but their biggest strength is their balance, with any player in the starting lineup capable of going for 20 points in a game. This time, Anderson took over from the opening tap, getting the Porters off to a great start, and his teammates rode his hot hand and made sure he got the ball in a good spot, but they made their biggest impact on the defensive end, making every East Rockaway dribble, every pass, every rebound, and every shot a contested one. It translated to a dominating victory and a spot in the New York State Class C Regional Final. STORY 1 STORY 2 BOX 3/6
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ahkee Anderson, Greenport MVP
Jordan Fonseca, Greenport
Sky Mosley, East Rockaway
Jude Swan, Greenport
James Toney, Stony Brook
AMERICA EAST PLAYOFFS
VERMONT 70
STONY BROOK 51
STONY BROOK 69
ALBANY 60
After a tough season that saw them come into this first round playoff matchup with a 12-18 record and having lost twice to their long time rivals during the regular season, the Seawolves rose up and pulled off the big upset on the road. STORY 3/3
NYSPHSAA CLASS C FINAL FOUR
Lake George 73
Greenport 58
Greenport was overwhelmed by the moment - they missed a bunch of layups, and incredible 19 by one count, and didn't shoot well in general. That, plus they had no answer for the Lake George big man, who finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Good news is, the Porters have everyone back next year. There's a good chance they will be back, and a year older. Lake George now 27-0 and as good as advertised - going on to claim the State Championship. STORY 1 STORY 2 BOX
NYSPHSAA CLASS C REGIONAL FINAL
Greenport 78
Hamilton 63
The Porters advanced to the New York State Class C Final Four in impressive fashion, rolling over the Section 1 Champions. STORY BOX
NYSPHSAA CLASS B REGIONAL FINAL
Briarcliff 62
Center Moriches 49
The Section 1 champions were an excellent defensive team. That and some early foul trouble did in the Red Devils. STORY BOX SCORE
NYSPHSAA CLASS D REGIONAL FINAL
Newfield (Sec 4) 61
Bridgehampton 44
The Bees wrapped up an inspired season against a team that played for the State Championship last year and may very well again.
HIGH SCHOOL SCHEDULE
Monday, March 19th
LONGISLANDBASKETBALL.COM'S
**PLAYER OF THE YEAR**
**COACH OF THE YEAR**
Friday, March 23rd
New York State Federation
Tournament Of Champions
6:00 PM LuHi vs Stepinac
Saturday, March 24th
New York State Federation
Tournament Of Champions
9:00 AM LWA vs Fannie Lou Hamer
2:15 PM Amityville vs Park School
8:00 PM Class AA Championship Game
Sunday, March 25th
New York State Federation
Tournament Of Champions
2:00 PM Class B Championship Game
4:00 PM Class A Championship Game
LONG ISLAND SWEEP
Long Island 99
Westchester 95
Long Island swept a big home and home series with first place Westchester and is closing in on its first ever NBA G League playoff berth! There are six games remaining, the next one today (3/11) at the Nassau Coliseum against Delaware. A win against the Philadelphia 76er affiliate would help solidify their playoff hopes and playoff seeding, and provide an important buffer for the three game road trip they go on to close out the season. Former Lincoln HS and Seton Hall star Isaiah Whitehead led the way in their last win with 26 points, and he is just one college star on the deep and talented roster. Familiarize yourself with the league and the team and help give our one and only pro basketball team that famous Long Island home court advantage! First in these last three important home games, and then in the NBA G League Playoffs! Tickets are cheap by pro standards - $10 for good seats - and the quality of play second only to the NBA itself!
NEW YORK STATE Playoff Brackets
NYSPHSAA
CHSAA
PSAL
NYSAIS
CYO BASKETBALL
OF LONG ISLAND
PLAYOFF BRACKETS
SCORES/SCHEDULES
NJCAA Region 15 Champion Nassau CC
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NJCAA NATIONALS
SEMIFINALS
Nassau CC 95 Montgomery 81
Former Elmont star Jalen Burgess had 30 points and 10 rebounds, former Valley Stream South star Dana King 14 points and 7 assists, and former Calhoun star Patrick Gardner 13 points and 8 rebounds. BOX
QUARTERFINALS
Nassau CC 91 Massasoit CC 70
Cheyenne Middleton 24 points, Patrick Gardner 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Dana King 15 points and 11 assists. BOX
NCAA D1 TOURNAMENT
SAVION LEWIS
NEW YORK STATE'S
MR. BASKETBALL!
The Basketball Coaches Association Of New York has recognized Long Island's Savion Lewis as New York State's Mr. Basketball for the 2017-18 season. Lewis averaged 34 points, 7 assists and 5 steals per game while shooting 56 percent overall and 42 percent from the 3-point line. He finished his career as Hills East's all time leader in points, assists, and steals and in his senior year, was named MVP of NIKE/IS8, the Alzheimer's All-Star Classic, the Long Island Regional of the NYSHSAA State Championship Tournament, and he earned All-Tournament Honors at the State Tournament while leading his Thunderbird team to the Class AA Final 3/17
NYSPHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
CLASS A
#2 Amityville 74
Ardsley 54
The team that hadn't beaten anybody reeled off wins over 20-2 Westhampton, 22-3 Hills East, 22-0 Garden City, and 22-3 defending State Champion Irondequoit to advance to the NYSPHSAA Class A State Final, and the result was never in doubt. The dominating Warriors captured their first State Championship since 2003 and 5th overall, with MVP Josh Serrano finishing with a game-high 29 points and Jayson Robinson adding 18 and picking up All-Tournament honors. Coach Gordon Thomas won his first State Championship in only his second year as Head Coach. STORY BOX
FULL RECAP SOON
CLASS AA
Liverpool 71
#3 Hills East 65
An excellent game, with Hills East jumping out to an early lead and leading by 7 at the half, but their aggressive defense put three starters in first half foul trouble and they couldn't play the same aggressive style in the second half. Undefeated Liverpool took full advantage, attacking the basket and knocking down threes to the tune of 41 second half points and a come from behind win for the NYSPHSAA State title. STORY BOX FULL RECAP SOON
NYSPHSAA
CLASS A FINAL FOUR
#3 Hills East 82
McQuaid Jesuit 66
The Thunderbirds jumped out to a good lead and fought their way through foul trouble, pulling away in the second half to claim a spot in the Class AA Championship Game against Section 3 Champion Liverpool. Liverpool is undefeated and beat Mount Vernon in the other semifinal. STORY SOON BOX
NYSPHSAA
CLASS A FINAL FOUR
#2 Amityville 52
Irondequoit 42
CLASS A SEMIFINAL
Park 84 Amityville 61
The Warriors never got going, shooting 25% from the field, and they were out rebounded by 19. STORY
CLASS B SEMIFINAL
Hamer 42 LWA 39
The PSAL team packed it in on Ingiehon as expected, but the tough Fannie Lou defense wouldn't let the rest of the Tigers beat them. STORY
CLASS AA SEMIFINAL
Stepinac 76 LuHi 72
The Crusaders had rallied valiantly and had the ball with the game tied at 72 and 8 seconds remaining, but they called time-out to set up a play, and after checking with the official book, the officials ruled that they were out of time outs and the resulting technical foul call led to four free throws and a devastating loss for Long Island's #1 team. STORY
VIDEO EVIDENCE CONFIRMED LUHI DID HAVE A TIME-OUT REMAINING, BUT FEDERATION DENIED THEIR APPEAL. MORE
NYS Federation TOC
The Grand Finale of the 2017-18 basketball season, The New York State Federation Tournament of Champions begins TODAY, 3/23, at the world famous Glens Falls Civic Center. The event brings together the champions from the NYSPHSAA, CHSAA, PSAL, and NYSAIS to determine one overall State Champion in classes AA, A, and B, and Long Island will have three teams participating this year for the first time since 2007, and all three have a legitimate shot at the title! They are:
NYSAIS CLASS AA STATE CHAMPION
Long Island Lutheran (22-2)
Semi vs CHSAA Champion Stepinac
NYSPHSAA CLASS A STATE CHAMPION
Amityville (27-1)
Semi vs CHSAA Champion Park School
NYSAIS CLASS B STATE CHAMPION
Lawrence Woodmere (20-5)
SEMI vs PSAL Champion F.L. Hamer
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
NASSAU FINISHES SECOND AT
NJCAA NATIONALS
Long Island has an incredible history of producing great Junior College teams, and Nassau Community College added to that legacy with a second place finish at this years NJCAA Nationals. The Lions finished their season 28-5, winning the Region XV Title and Elite 8 and Final Four matchups before falling to Brookdale CC in the Championship Game. In the title game, they took a halftime lead, but before it was over, 4 of their players had fouled out and they couldn't overcome it. MORE ROSTER
SAVION LEWIS
LONG ISLAND'S
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Now that he's been chosen New York
State's Mr. Basketball, it's no surprise that Hills East's Savion Lewis has also been named Long Island's Player Of The Year! With all the deserving basketball accolades, it should also be noted that he is a great kid, a great teammate, a natural leader, and a tireless worker. In short - any coaches dream!
GORDON THOMAS
LONG ISLAND'S COACH OF THE YEAR
It's always a big challenge to take the reigns of a legendary program, but Alzheimer's Game founder Gordon Thomas did just that and delivered a State Championship in just his second season! Amityville will be in good hands for many years to come!
NSCHSAA AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tyler Small, Holy Trinity
COACH OF THE YEAR
Bob Paul, Chaminade
CHAMPIONSHIP MVP
Jon Harewood, St. Anthony's
2018 ALL-LEAGUE
MICHAEL O’CONNELL, CHAMINADE
BRENDAN MCGUIRE, CHAMINADE
BOBBY CONNORS, CHAMINADE
LIAM DRENNAN, CHAMINADE
TIM CALLAGHAN, HOLY TRINITY
MIKE SIXSMITH, HOLY TRINITY
TYLER SMALL, HOLY TRINITY
JON HAREWOOD, ST. ANTHONY’S
TYRONE LYONS, ST. ANTHONY’S
ANTONIO LOPEZ, ST. ANTHONY’S
PIERCE PERRY, ST. MARY’S
ALEC DOWNS, ST.JOHN THE BAPTIST
DANIEL WILSON, KELLENBERG
AVERY LAURON, ST. DOMINIC’S
Long Island Falls Short
The Long Island Nets faced an unlikely path into the playoffs, having to win three out of their last four games to close out the regular season, and all four on the road. They came close, but fell just short, dropping a 101 99 decision to Grand Rapids that eliminated them from playoff contention. Brooklyn native Isaiah Whitehead made a heroic effort, scoring 39 points in the loss.
NASSAU COUNTY COACHES AWARDS
The Nassau County Boys Basketball Coaches Association held their annual awards dinner, and the following players were honored for their outstanding seasons:
THE TED ADAMS TROPHY
LARGE SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Danny Ashley, Uniondale
THE HANK WILLIAMS TROPHY
SMALL SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Andrew Desantis, Garden City
We will post additional award winners over the coming days.
SEASON WRAP-UP
Every time you start a new season and you have a talented team and a great coach, your goal is to win a championship, and that certainly was ours. We made a good run at it in both the Fall and Spring NIKE/IS8 Tournaments, and although we fell short both times, we opened a lot of eyes and clearly established that Long Island players really can play with anyone, going 9-3 against All-Star teams filled with top D1 prospects from all over the region, including some McDonald's All-Americans. Savion Lewis finished his exceptional Team Long Island career with another NIKE/IS8 All-Tournament Team selection and was the best player on the court in every game we played, but he would be the first one to say that he was part of an exceptional group of talented, hard working, team oriented players that made Long Island proud every time they took the court. The 2017-18 Team Long Island combined Fall 2017/Spring 2018 roster:
REGULARS
Julien Crittendon, Hills East
Bryce Harris, Brentwood
Zed Key, Brentwood
Savion Lewis, Hills East
Tyrone Lyons, St. Anthony’s
Jordan Mosely, East Islip
Billy Muller, North Babylon
Frank Phelan, Floral Park
Emmanuel Rancy, Longwood
Jarnel Rancy, Longwood
Tyler Small, Holy Trinity
Alex Sobel, Ward Melville
Noah Stevenson, Patchogue-Medford
Kevin Voigt, Massapequa
Brandon Weiss, Jericho
ALTERNATES
Andrew DeSantis, Garden City
Jon Harewood, St. Anthony’s
Kenny Mathurin, Hills East
Josh Pismeny, Deer Park
Michael Snowden, Copiague
Jarrell White, Bellport
IS8 QUARTERFINALS
I’m not big on moral victories, but all of Long Island should be proud of Team Long Island today. Undefeated in the tournament coming in, they were missing four of their best players in this NIKE/IS8 quarterfinal matchup - two very good big men and their leading scorers from both games 1 and 4, and honestly, nobody in the gym thought they had a prayer against a towering Sean Bell All-Stars team stocked with future D1 players. But they played their hearts out, never backed down, played excellent D, hit big shots, pulled down big rebounds, and overcame an early deficit, challenging repeatedly for the lead before falling short 76-69. The game began ominously, with Christ the King’s Quaran McPherson getting Sean Bell off to a fast start, sparking them to a 12-0 advantage just minutes into the game while Long Island’s shots just wouldn't fall, but Holy Trinity’s Tyler Small started to find the range and his teammates dug in on defense and battled on the boards and things never got out of hand. Big baskets by Small, Alex Sobel from Ward Melville, New York State Mr. Basketball Savion Lewis from Hills East, and a big three pointer by Josh Pismeny from Deer Park and Long Island started to build some momentum, but LSU commit Javonte Smart, a McDonald’s All-American, seemed to hit every shot he took in the half, preventing Long Island from closing the gap and it was 43-32 at intermission. The Team Long Island defense continued to keep the explosive All-Stars in check as the third quarter got underway and key baskets by Massapequa’s Kevin Voigt and Sobel narrowed the gap. When Lewis sliced through traffic and scored, he brought Long Island within 4 still early in the third quarter, but the size of the team that had players from 3 different states became a factor as the quarter progressed. 6’10 forward Cliff Omoruyi from New Jersey State Champion Roselle Catholic was scoring consistently on putbacks, and then a thunderous dunk by 7’0 Christ The King big man Moussa Cisse and a putback dunk by 6’8 Frankie Policelli from LuHi and Sean Bell was up by 8 with three quarters in the books. Lewis and his teammates would not relent, challenging the defense on every trip down the court in the fourth quarter, and Lewis was unstoppable. He finished with 18 fourth quarter points, and his scoring, from inside and out, and a huge three pointer by Floral Park’s Frank Phelan and Long Island was back within 4 with the ball and 2 minutes left to play, but a missed shot led to a Policelli fast break dunk, sparking a decisive closing run that carried Bell to the 7 point victory and ended team Long Island's NIKE/IS8 season at 4-1. Smart led the All-Stars with 16 points, McPherson added 15, and Omoruyi had 14. Lewis led all scorers with 31 points for Team Long Island, Small finished with 16, and Sobel 11.
IS8 PLAYOFFS
Team Long Island earned a first-round bye in the playoffs for winning our pool and will play a quarterfinal matchup on Sunday, May 20th at 11:30 am against the winner of Saturday's LVBR vs Sean Bell All-Stars matchup. Our game is at the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Queens, 110-04 Atlantic Ave, South Richmond Hill, NY 11419.
IS8 GAME 4
When you go into a big game missing three of your top seven players and then shoot poorly but still pull out a win against a good team, it’s a great feeling. Team Long Island took on PSAL Class AA Champion South Shore for first place in their pool and held off a three point shooting barrage by the Vikings to win it , finishing 4-0 heading into next week’s playoffs. Copiague’s Mike Snowdon stepped into the starting lineup and had a big game to lead the way, scoring from inside and out, and he got help from St. Anthony's Tyrone Lyons, who scored, rebounded, and blocked shots, Alex Sobel from Ward Melville, who clogged up the lane, blocked shots and controlled the boards, and Frank Phelan from Floral Park, who once again ran the offense with skill and played very tough D. Savion Lewis came through down the stretch as he always seems to do, playing lock-down defense on a hot shooter to help stall the South Shore rally, Kevin Voigt was impressive once again, rebounding, defending and moving the ball well, Kenny Mathurin was his usual solid, aggressive self, and Jericho’s Brandon Weiss filled in again and did a nice job, capping off a good day with two big free throws in the final seconds to ice it.
Player Awards
Seven of the players on the Team Long Island roster were honored with All-New York State status, and one was named New York State Class AA Player Of The Year by the New York State Sportswriters Association!
IS8 GAMES 2 and 3
Team Long Island swept two games at NIKE/IS8 to improve to 3-0 in pool play, putting them in a great position to capture one of the top seeds in the Championship Round. Savion Lewis returned to the line-up after resting a sore toe and exploded for 14 first quarter points in the opener, a 77-51 win over 2 The Rack, and in game two, they avenged last Fall's loss to Positive Direction by a 74-65 margin, with Lewis, Tyrone Lyons, Tyler Small, and Frank Phelan all having big games. Their last pool game is next Saturday May 12th at 4:15 PM and it should be a good one against the PSAL Champion Vikings, again at IS8 in Queens.
IS8 GAME 1
Team Long Island went into its NIKE/IS8 opener knowing they would be without New York State Mr. Basketball Savion Lewis from Hills East and First Team All-Long Island selection and Nassau County Large School Player Of The Year Danny Ashley from Uniondale, but this is their deepest team ever and they quickly put any fears to rest, rallying from an early deficit to roll past a physically imposing Ball Hogs squad 86-68. Floral Park's Frank Phelan stepped into the starting point guard slot with only two practices under his belt and did an outstanding job, running the team with great skill and composure, Holy Trinity's Tyler Small and Hills East's Julien Crittenden did what they do best - score in bunches and defend, and forwards Tyrone Lyons from St. Anthony's and Alex Sobel from Ward Melville overcame first half foul trouble to completely outplay their bigger, stronger counterparts. The clincher, though, is that Team Long Island also had the incredible luxury of bringing Garden City's Andrew DeSantis, North Babylon's Billy Muller, Massapequa's Kevin Voigt, Hills East's Kenny Mathurin, Copiague's Mike Snowden, and Jericho's Brandon Weiss off the bench, and as one fan said to me on the way out, “When their starters came out, they didn’t miss a beat!” It will be very exciting to see what they look like with everyone there, which they expect in Game 2. If you're not familiar with the history of the event, read this from the DAILY NEWS
FINAL NEW YORK STATE RANKINGS
The final New York State rankings from the New York State Sportswriters Association showed Long Island's top teams ranked as follows:
CLASS AA
2. LuHi
9. HHH East
10. Uniondale
15. Deer Park
22. Brentwood
23. Central Islip
CLASS A
5. Amityville
9. Garden City
19. St. Anthony’s
20. Chaminade
26. Floral Park
CLASS B
3. LWA
12. Center Moriches
24 Malverne
25. Oyster Bay
28. Babylon
CLASS C
3. Greenport
CLASS D
20. Bridgehampton
FOR THE COMPLETE STATE RANKINGS, GO TO THE NYSSWA WEBSITE
VARSITY CHAMPIONS
The Minutemen
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Devin Bryant - New Church, Pa.
Tyler "Twigs" Mitchell - All Hallows
Eric SanFilippo - Hauppauge
Stanley Silien - Springfield Gardens
Naseim Webb - Erasmus Hall
4th/10U CHAMPIONS
Knulife
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Joey Cordero - Far Rockaway
Dennis Smith Jr. - Brooklyn Scholar
Luke McDonough - Dix Hills
Connor Griffin - Whitestone
Anthony(TJ) Elor - Baldwin
7th/13U CHAMPIONS
The Hemstead Dons
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jakkai Stith - Hempstead
Taj McLeod - Hempstead
Connor Haufler - Oceanside
Ogonna Benjamin Obayi - Jamaica
8th/14U CHAMPIONS
The Falcons
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Aiden Best - LuHi
Brendan Lee - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Christopher Lee - Francis Lewis
Liam Toner - Oyster Bay
Mcky Walker - Freeport
JV/16U CHAMPIONS
Game 7
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Amir Alston - McClancy
Randolph Charles - St. Francis Prep
DJ Johnson- Uniondale
Tommy Porter - Thomas Jefferson
Anthony Walters - Holy Cross
A collection of stories from around the internet that caught my eye.
- Ted Thomas/Editor
NASSAU
ALL-STAR DOUBLEHEADER
There were two great games at this year's Nassau Class of 2018 All-Star Doubleheader, both featuring impressive individual performances and come from behind wins.
2018
ALL-STAR BASKETBALL CLASSIC
TO BENEFIT WHEELCHAIR CHARITIES
Long Island Takes Third
After a heartbreaking one point loss in the semifinals, Long Island rebounded to defeat Bronx/Manhattan 67-49 and take third place at the 2018 All-Star Basketball Classic. Quentin Williams led a balanced attack with 12 points, Tyler Small and Josh Serrano added 9, and Tyrone Lyons chipped in 4 pts, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
Brooklyn Stops LI
The defending champions built a 10 point second half lead behind the excellent play of Quentin Williams (13 pts, 3 ast), Tyrone Lyons (12 pts, 10 reb), Curtis Fornchor (10 pts, 11 reb), and Josh Serrano (9 pts, 3 stl), but Brooklyn caught them as the clock dipped under the one minute mark and held them off for a heartbreaking 65-64 loss. Brooklyn advanced to the Championship Game against the Queens All-Stars, winners over Bronx/Manhattan in another nail biter.
FULL STORY AND PHOTOS SOON
Long Island Roster
The Long Island roster for the 2018 Wheelchair Charities All-Star Basketball Classic has been announced:
Kelvin Addingi, Upper Room
Christian Cherry, Knox
Nasin Cylin, Baldwin
Julius Goddard, Amityville
Curtis Fornchor, Upper Room
Jon Harewood, St. Anthony’s
Conrad Ihaza, Elmont
Tyrone Lyons, St. Anthony’s
Kenny Mathurin, HHH East
Victor Olawoye, Elmont
Jayson Robinson, Amityville
Josh Serrano, Amityville
Tyler Small, Holy Trinity
Jarell White, Bellport
Quentin Williams, Knox
Long Island's first game will be 7:30 PM Tuesday at Archbishop Molloy HS against Brooklyn. Long Island won the event last year for the first time since the tournament began in 1974.
Kupchak Hornets GM
Former First Team All-Long Island player Mitch Kupchak from Brentwood has been hired as the new President of Basketball Operations and General Manager of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. He will lead the organization’s day-to-day basketball operations for Hornets owner and fellow Tar Heel Michael Jordan. “In every role and in every stop during his tenure in the NBA, Mitch Kupchak has brought the highest levels of success to his teams. He’s a proven winner,” Jordan said. “Having won championships as both a player and an executive, we have confidence that Mitch is the right person to lead our basketball operations, build a winning culture and bring sustained success to our organization, for our fans and for the city of Charlotte.” Kupchak returns to the state where he was ACC Player of the year while attending the University of North Carolina and has jersey #21 retired there in his honor. His longtime NBA career includes 10 NBA Championships - three as a player and seven as an executive with the Los Angeles Lakers.
FIRST TEAM
ALL-NEW YORK STATE BASKETBALL PLAYERS!
CLASS AA
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Savion Lewis, Hills East
FIRST TEAM
Jason Douglas-Stanley, Mt Vernon
Cole Anthony, Archbishop Molloy
Moses Brown, Archbishop Molloy
Alan Griffin, Archbishop Stepinac
Malik Martin, Curtis
CLASS A
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Greg Dolan, Williamsville South
FIRST TEAM
Andrew DeSantis, Garden City
Josh Serrano, Amityville
Noah Hutchins, Park School
Larry Moreno, Brooklyn Law & Tech
August Mahoney, Albany Academy
GO TO THE NEW YORK STATE SPORTSWRITERS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE FOR ALL OF THE ALL-NEW YORK STATE TEAM SELECTIONS
Small Schools: Classes B, C, D
The New York State Sportswriters Association has announced the small school players selected All-New York State for the 2017-18 Basketball Season. The large school players (classes AA and A) will be announced next week.
CLASS B
FIRST TEAM
Aiden Igiehon, LWA
SECOND TEAM
Sean Braithwaite, Center Moriches
SEVENTH TEAM
Tyler St. Furcy, LWA
EIGHT TEAM
Zaire Baines, Portledge
NINTH TEAM
Michael James, Malverne
Anthony Reilly, Oyster Bay
Troy Goode Center Moriches
CLASS C
FIRST TEAM
Ahkee Anderson, Greenport
FIFTH TEAM
Sky Mosley, East Rockaway
HONORABLE MENTION
Xavier Allen, Mattituck
Jaxan Swan, Greenport
Jude Swan, Greenport
CLASS D
THIRD TEAM
J.P. Harding Bridgehampton
FIFTH TEAM
Will Martin Pierson
JERSEY SNEAK ATTACK!
New Jersey took home a lot of hardware at the 2018 Spring Championships! Another great tournament, with five OT games!
VARSITY CHAMPIONS
Northeastern Sports, NJ
10TH GRADE/16U CHAMPIONS
Northeastern Sports, NJ
9TH GRADE/15U CHAMPIONS
Long Island Elite
8TH GRADE/14U CHAMPIONS
Northeastern Sports, NJ
7TH GRADE/13U CHAMPIONS
Hoop Dreams
6TH GRADE/12U CHAMPIONS
Rising Stars/Team NYC
COMMISSION ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The NCAA commissioned a report looking for solutions to the growing recruiting scandal hitting men's basketball, and the results have been released. MORE FULL REPORT
Related Stories: Sporting News,
Basketball Scandals
A little history added to coverage of the current scandals by the DAILY NEWS
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Key To LuHi
All New-York State sophomore forward Zed Key from Brentwood will enroll at Long Island Lutheran next fall as expected. The rebuilding Crusaders, who lost three starters to graduation, are off to a great start with the addition of Key, who already has several D1 offers! He joins All-NY State junior Tyson Etienne, AAU teammate and fellow All-Long Island sophomore Andre Curbelo, and Egyptian National Team member Essam Mostafa as leaders of next year's team. Despite the loss, Brentwood will remain a serious contender in Section 11, returning two more All-Long Island Sophomores in Bryce Harris and Kenny Lazo, one All-Long Island Freshman in Jordan Riley, and several capable players ready to challenge for starting roles, including 6'7 forward Alan Houston, the favorite to move into's Key's spot up front. We wish the best of luck to both teams! Wouldn't it be great for Long Island if they met in the New York State Federation Championship Game? It could happen!
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Coverage from the NYSPHSAA's Executive Committee meeting.
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The Knicks chose David Fizdale to be their new Head Coach!
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Two Long Islanders have been named to NJCAA National Junior College All-Star teams. They are:
Shane Gatling
Baldwin HS
Jalen Burgess
Elmont HS (Nassau CC)
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5th/11U CHAMPIONS
Rising Stars Elite
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Thomas Zullo - Whitestone
Eric Rucker - Hempstead
Carter Wilson - Bay Shore
Tyheem Mills - Amityville
LONG ISLAND'S
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE!
The following Long Islanders will be playing college basketball for the first time next season or transferring to a new school:
Isaiah Bien Aise, Westbury, New Paltz
Jamal Allen, Brentwood, Missouri-KC
Mike Almonacy, Brentwood, LIU Post
Connor Braat, Smithtown W, John Jay
Andrew Buskey, LWA, Old Westbury
Greg Cassiano, East Islip, Cortland
Kashawn Charles, Wyandanch, E. Illinois
Bobby Connors, Chaminade, Hartwick
Chris Crespo, Smithtown W, Assumption
Julien Crittendon, Hills East, Oswego
Brian Dellecave, Pat-Med, Springfield
Patrick Dellecave, Pat-Med, Farmingdale
Boubacar Diakite, OSNA, St. John’s
Devonte Dixon, Floyd, LIU Post
Michael Gannon, Smithtown W, Geneseo
Shane Gatling, Baldwin, Colorado
Tavon Ginyard, Brentwood, Dominican
Julius Goddard, Amityville, Oneonta
Evan Goldberg, Wantagh, Queens
Seth Goumba, Connnetquot, LIU Post
Tykei Greene, LuHi, Loyola-Chicago
Nicholas Guaglione, Commack, Chatham
Jon Harewood, St. Anthony’s, Gannon
Jordan Idaspe, Herricks, Cortland
Jordan Jackson, Baldwin, Delhi
Liam Kunkel, North Shore, LIU Post
Donatas Kupsas, LuHi, Weber State
Savion Lewis, Hills East, Quinnipiac
Antonio Lopez, St. Anthony's, New Haven
Tyrone Lyons, St. Anthony’s, N.C. A&T
Kenny Mathurin, Hills East, Oneonta
Griffin McNally, Walt Whitman, Maritime
Dylan Morris-Gray, Cmswgue, S. Vermont
Billy Muller, North Babylon, Molloy
Victor Olawoye, Elmont, Gannon
Femi Olujobi, Brentwood, DePaul
Frank Phelan, Floral Park, Molloy
Josh Pismeny, Deer Park, Mt. St. Vincent
Frankie Policelli, LuHi, Dayton
Emmanuel Rancy, Longwood, Gwynedd
Mike Regan, St. Anthony’s, Maritime
Anthony Reilly, Oyster Bay, RPI
Jared Rhoden, Baldwin, Seton Hall
Halen Ryan, Longwood, Farmingdale
Eric SanFilippo, Hauppauge, Oswego
Alex Sobel, Ward Melville, Middlebury
DeShawn Todman, Deer Park, Farmingdale
Norman Wilson, Baldwin, Delhi
Elijah Wingfield, Southampton, Geneseo
Cam Wynter, Holy Trinity, Drexel
If you know someone who should be added to this list, LET US KNOW!
LONG ISLAND
AT THE GYM RAT
Every Memorial Day weekend, one of the great events of the travel basketball season takes place - the annual Gym Rat Tournament up in Albany, the biggest and many say the best basketball tournament held in this part of the country. Now an Official Qualifier for USA Basketball Championship Events, it attracks hundreds of top teams from all over the country, and many of Long Island's top teams and players participate.
11TH GRADE POOL WINNERS
LIGHTNING-GOLD-Izevbehai
9TH GRADE POOL WINNERS
LONG ISLAND ROUGH RYDERZ
We will post links to write-ups of individual players as they become available.
THE 2018
BIG MAY SHOWDOWN
Now in our 10th year, the popularity of LongIslandBasketball.com's One Day Championship Tournaments continues to soar, with 56 games contested IN ONE DAY at this year's Big May Showdown. We're happy to report that despite the large number of teams from off of Long Island participating, our home town teams did very well, capturing 5 out of 6 championships.
These are the 2018 champions:
VARSITY: South Shore Surf
16U: Natural Born Ballers
15U: Lightning Helguero
12U: Seaford Heat
11U: Middletown’s Finest
10U: LI Roughryderz
9U: LI Roughryderz
TEAM CAMP CHAMPION CHAMINADE
Hofstra Team Camp
One of the big high school events of the summer season, the annual Hofstra Team Camp, featured 16 high school teams from both Long Island and New York City this year, with each team playing a total of 6 games over three days. The results bode well for the NSCHSAA, whose teams took the top three spots at the camp. Camp Champion Chaminade emerged as an early league favorite and was never seriously challenged at the camp, while Holy Trinity, the other finalist, played excellent small ball and defended well throughout. St. Anthony’s, with a young and and talented squad, defeated a good Baldwin team for third place. Both teams need time to jell and will be much better once the season gets underway. Another good small ball squad, Northport, impressed, outlasting rival Commack for 5th place. Both will challenge in Sec 11 AA.
TEAMS PARTICIPATING
Baldwin
Bayside
Calhoun
Chaminade
Commack
Deer Park
Farmingdale
Holy Trinity
Island Trees
LWA
Manhasset
Massapequa
Northport
Oceanside
Smithtown West
St. Anthony's
BASKETBALL CAMP
AT STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY
Grasso To Bryant
St. Anthony’s grad Jared Grasso, who has earned a great reputation as a Tim Cluess assistant at Iona known for his recruiting skills and work ethic, was named the new head coach at Bryant University, a D1 program in the NEC. Hitting the ground running, he and his staff have been very aggressive so far in scouting Long Islanders for the program.
Cluess Signs Extension
Former St. Mary's, Suffolk Community College, and CW Post Head Coach Tim Cluess has signed a contract extension which will keep him as the head coach of the Iona Gaels through the 2025 season. Cleuss, who now has 21 consecutive winning seasons as a head coach at the high school and collegiate level and has accumulated a 567-203 career record, is fresh off another NCAA Tournament appearance with the Gaels, the 5th in his 8 year tenure at the D1 MAAC school. The team has won 20 or more games in each of his 8 seasons.
Seaford AAU Champs
The Seaford Heat, led by Portledge's Zaire Baines, who averaged 31.6 ppg as an 8th grader on varsity last season - defeated Wisconsin's Ray Allen Select 59-54 to win the AAU 14U D1 Championships held at Disney World in Orlando, Fl. The Heat were also Rumble In The Bronx Champions this season. AAU Nationals ROSTER:
Zaire Baines
Dante Brooks
Aaron Davis
Kyle Dowden
Jasean Elliott
Jorden Evelyn
Chancellor McKee
Michael McQuilton
Marquis Samuels
Peter Vorillas
Jared Weekly
The Beginning Of
The End Of AAU?
PART 1 IN A SERIES
A new proposal still in its formative stages could deal a serious blow to AAU and Sneaker Company Basketball as we know it, and might very well be the beginning of the end for both competing camps. USA Basketball, the NBA, and the NCAA are all taking steps to seize control of the sport at the youth level, and one of the key provisions of the proposal, reportedly being prepared by the NBCA for submission to the NCAA Commission that was set up to look into the big recruiting and corruption scandal that hit NCAA and Travel Team basketball this past fall, is to discontinue the July Live Period, forbidding D1 coaches from attending the big events that are held annually in Orlando, Las Vegas and other locations across the country. It often costs teams thousand of dollars to attend these July events, and if there is no prospect of playing in front of D1 coaches, many teams will undoubtedly elect to take advantage of far less expensive alternatives, putting many of these events out of business. It's not a complete prohibition, though. If the proposal is adopted, it looks like the April Live Period will be retained for now.
Bob Herzog Retires!
Our good friend from Newsday is hanging it up after 42 years! We have had the great pleasure of sharing the sidelines with him for the past 10, and enjoyed every minute of it! He will be sorely missed! STORY
Nets Name Weaver
The Long Island Nets have named Brooklyn Nets Assistant Coach Will Weaver as Head Coach. He replaces Ronald Norad, who was named an Assistant Coach with the Charlotte Hornets. STORY
LI Nets Free Clinic
Join us for a free Long Island Nets Basketball Academy Clinic Friday, July 27th in New Hyde Park. REGISTER
Nets 3 on 3 Tournament
The Long Island Nets will host a 3 on 3 tournament August 25th & 26th at the Nassau Coliseum (NYCB Live). The registration deadline is August 15th. REGISTER
Mateyko To Iona
Former Five Towns, Dowling, and St. Joseph's College Head Coach John Mateyko has been named Director of Basketball Operations at Iona.
Danny Green To Raptors
North Babylon native and former St. Mary's star Danny Green has been traded to the Toronto Raptors as part of a deal for Toronto's DeMar DeRozan. A fan favorite, Green enjoyed an 8 year career with San Antonio and was an important part of their 2014 NBA Championship team. Known as a lockdown defender, he established a single-season franchise record for threes with 191 in 2014-15. A SPURS FAN'S FAREWELL,
Pitino Returns To LI
Legendary St. Dominic grad Rick Pitino came back to Long Island to sign copies of his new book, “Pitino, My Story“, at the Book Review in Huntington, delivering a compelling speech to a crowd that braved thunderstorms to hear him speak, followed by a lengthy question and answer session. Coach Pitino asserted that he and athletic director Tom Jurich were dismissed by the University Of Louisville without a hearing of any kind, and that nothing has been released that shows that he knew anything about or was involved in any way with the $100,000 payment that Adidas made to a Louisville recruit for one simple reason: Because he was not aware of it or involved with it in any way, and the current investigation will ultimately confirm that. The book is a fascinating read and will give you a new perspective on the on-gong scandal, in addition to the other two scandals associated with him, and of course the highlights of an outstanding career that places him among college basketball's all-time great coaches. SIGNED COPIES of the book are available at THE BOOK REVIEW in Huntington.
Fewer Kids Playing Sports
Youth sports study: Declining participation, rising costs and unqualified coaches. STORY
Player News
BCANY All Tournament
Suffolk's Zed Key, from Brentwood, and Jarell White, from Bellport, both earned All-Tournament honors at the Basketball Coaches Association of New York's Summer Hoops Festival, and so did Nassau's Tavin Phillipe Pierre, who is from Baldwin.
Irish Pride Fuels Igiehon
Dixon To LIU Post
Devonte Dixon led Long Island in scoring his senior year at William Floyd High School, averaging 30.8 ppg, and will be bringing his talents to LIU Post this fall, joining D1 transfer Mike Almonacy from Brentwood and former Deer Park star Darien Jenkins in what should be a very potent backcourt for the Pioneers and Head Coach Erik Smiles. All three players were All-Long Island selections in high school.
Andre Curbelo Making Noise
LuHi's All-Long Island Sophomore and rising junior steps into a leadership role this coming season, and is preparing for it by posting another big travel season, leading his team to the Adidas Gauntlet Championship with 25 points, 9 rebound, and 5 assists.
Long, Braithwaite Excel
Chaminade's TJ Long and Sean Braithwaite from Center Moriches led their travel team to the Elite 8 of a Hoop Group Live Period event, with Long scoring 25pts and Braithwaite 17 in their Sweet 16 victory.
Machado Still Battling
Former St. Mary's star Scott Machado, now 28 and a veteran of overseas pro leagues, will be playing in the G League once again this season, hoping to live out his dream of an NBA career. Machado is an old school team first point guard that values assists more that baskets.
Basketball Royalty!
Long Island basketball royalty descended on Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset to help celebrate the amazing 50th anniversary of Gus Alfieri's highly acclaimed All American Basketball Camp. Coach Alfieri (left), began his career as a star player at St. John's University before going on to coach at St. Anthony's, where he led the program to state championships and national prominence. He is joined by two of his most accomplished proteges - current NBA Head Coach Ken Atkinson of the Brooklyn Nets (center), who played for Coach Alfieri in high school and was a camp regular before going on to a terrific career at Richmond and in overseas pro leagues, and Rich Wrase, most recently a scout for the NBA's Los Angles Lakers and also a former camper who starred at Half Hollow Hills High School before going on to coach Westhampton to a high school state championship and Suffolk Community College to two junior college national championships. Coach Atkinson, who credits Coach Alfieri with inspiring him to be a coach, delivered an outstanding presentation on finishing techniques to an eagar and appreciative group of campers, but the highlight of the day had to be the lunchtime gathering of former players and coaches, who along with Coach Alfieri, traded one fascinating war story after another about camp legends like Dr. J, Bobby Knight, Lou Carnesecca, Rollie Massimino, Jimmy Valvano, Mike Krzyzewski, Hubie Brown and others, and also about those memorable championship seasons at St. Anthony's and their historic games against LuHi, New York City and upstate powerhouses, and their Catholic League rivals. A truly unforgettable day!
Suffolk Falls In Semis
In a heartbreaker, Suffolk County fell 63-61 to eventual champion Buffalo in the Semifinals of the New York State Basketball Coaches Association Summer festival, falling on a putback with 2.5 seconds remaining. The Long Island squad led by 7 at the half. Suffolk finished pool play 3-1, tied for first place with Rochester, who they beat 83-82 in overtime to earn the top seed, while Buffalo was the 2 seed in the other pool behind Mid-Hudson. Suffolk had impressive performances from Brentwood’s Zed Key, who will play at LuHi next season, Deer Park’s Malik Edmead, and Brentwood’s Bryce Harris while picking up wins over an Adirondack team led by Joe Girard III, New York State’s all-time leading scorer, who was held to just 13 points, the defending champion - Central New York - and Rochester. Nassau County did not fare as well, going 1-3.
Hoops Festival
The 8th Annual Basketball Coaches Association Of New York Summer Hoops Festival, which matches up All-Star Teams from every region of the state, begins August 3rd in Johnson City, NY. This year's festival features Joe Girard III, who averaged over 50 points per game last season at Glens Falls High School to move past Lincoln High School's Lance Stephenson and into first place on New York State's all-time scoring list with 3306 career points, and he still has his senior season in front of him! Long Island sends two teams, but has not won the event since 2011, when they entered a combined Nassau/Suffolk team. This year's Long Island rosters:
NASSAU COUNTY
1 Justin Evelyn, Uniondale
2 Keaton Goldsby, Lawrence
3 Tavin Pierre Philippe, Baldwin
4 Joseph Hicks, Sewanhaka
5 Trayvon Alexander, Friends Academy
6 Tre Riggins, Baldwin
7 Robert Acevedo, Island Trees
8 Aaron Davis, Valley Stream South
9 Raymond Foster, Uniondale
10 Corey Powell, Valley Stream South
11 RJ Meyers-Turner, Uniondale
12 Darien Matthew, St. Dominic
SUFFOLK COUNTY
1 Jordan Mosley, East Islip
2 Jarell White, Bellport
3 Sean Walsh, Northport
4 Brendan Rivera, Smithtown West
5 Ray Graboski, Ward Melville
6 Malik Edmead, Deer Park
7 Jarenel Rancy, Longwood
8 Zed Key, LuHi
9 Bryce Harris, Brentwood
CYO Honors Bob McKillop
Chaminade and Hofstra grad Bob McKillop, who accumulated 86 wins as the head coach at Holy Trinity, 182 wins and 5 state championships as the Head Coach at LuHi, and well over 500 wins as the head coach at Davidson, will be honored for his outstanding career at the CYO of Long Island’s 25th Annual Golf Outing on Monday, September 17th at the Hempstead Golf and Country Club. MORE
SUMMER LEAGUES
Island Trees rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Oyster Bay 63-57 in the Championship Game of the 10th Annual Nassau County PAL/Town of Oyster Bay Varsity Summer League!
Oyster Bay's Khalil Williams had 24 points at the half to lead the Baymen to a 5 point advantage, but the Bulldog defense clamped down in the second half, allowing only 9 fourth quarter points, and Rob Ferrufino reentered the lineup after early foul trouble to energize their balanced attack.
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Westbury took the Coes Neck Summer League title, defeating Roosevelt 59-56 in OT. Westbury's Tyreik Frazier was MVP, finishing with 14 pts, 12 rebounds, and 12 blocks.
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The Nassau PAL/Town Of Oyster Bay Varsity Summer League Semifinals were played, and Island Trees advanced with a 51-45 victory over Hicksville. Anthony Ferrufino dominated inside & out, finishing with 15 points, and Rob Avcevedo added 10. Shane McBride led all scorers with 16 for Hicksville and Amaury Mateo had 12. In the other Semifinal, Oyster Bay rolled over East Meadow 63-39. Khalil Williams led the way with 19 points, Max Weinberg had 16, and Yahve Jean Baptiste 13. Kyle Nelson led East Meadow with 11.
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Baldwin picked up back to back summer championships, beating Elmont again, this time by a 56-54 score in the Baldwin Summer League final and Tavin Phillipe Pierre was MVP with 25 points.
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Baldwin took the Kennedy Park Summer League title 58-47 behind 36 points from MVP Rhyjon Blackwell.
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The Kennedy Park Semifinals resulted in the same finals matchup that we'll have in the Baldwin Summer League. Baldwin, which really looks like the team to beat in Nassau this coming season, rolled over Roosevelt, and in a terrific nightcap, Elmont edged Uniondale. Elmont looks like a serious contender too and the rebuilding Uniondale team shows great promise. The final is tonight (8/9) at 7:30 PM
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Class A teams dominated at the West Babylon Summer League, with John Glenn taking the title, beating Kings Park by 4 in the final.
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Both the Baldwin Summer League and the Kennedy Park Summer League are down to the semifinals. The Kennedy Park games are tonight (8/8), with Baldwin facing Roosevelt in a 6:30 pm semifinal, and Uniondale taking on Elmont at 7:30. At Baldwin, the host Bruins rolled over Malverne to advance to the championship game, while Elmont took a lead at the first half buzzer, built a second half lead and then held off Floral Park in the other semi.
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Some of Long Island's high school summer leagues are wrapping up, and the first one to report results is the St. Anthony's Summer League, with Northport capturing the title with a 47-44 win over the host Friars. Junior Sean Walsh led the way with 22 points and junior George Mansour added 12, while sophomore Pat Healy iced the win with two big free throws. The league was made up of teams from Bayport, Commack, Connetquot, Huntington, Hills East, Northport, Sachem North, and St. Anthony's. Results are also in from the Westbury Spring League, and once again, the hosts fell in the final, with Baldwin defeating the Green Dragons 36-25. In the Town Of Brookhaven Summer League, Longwood defeated Smithtown West 44-36 in the Large School Championship Game, while Mt Sinai defeated Miller Place 50-47 in the Small School Final. The Mustangs were led by game MVP Nick Hurowitz who scored a game high 23 points.
Meet And Greet
Charity Fundraiser
A charity fundraiser will be held on August 28th at Nassau Community College featuring New York Knicks first round draft pick Kevin Knox, who wowed everybody at this year's NBA Summer League and has Knicks fans very excited. Donation is $40, and the first 150 kids that attend will get an autographed photo from Knox, and everyone will get group photos. Contact David Moses at 516-468-8156 for details.
Elite Player Clinic
The Long Island Nets will conduct mini-camps for elite boys and girls players ages 10-13 on October 6th and 7th in West Hempstead. DETAILS
G League Tryouts!
The Long Island Nets will hold their local player tryout on Saturday, September 15, 2018. MORE
Great Coaches Clinic
Northport's Kenny Atkinson, the Head Coach of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, gave an outstanding lecture at the well attended high school coaches clinic held at the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday 8/11. He covered multiple topics, accompanied by thorough game film demonstrations, and gave us all a glimpse of what it's like to break down game film in the NBA. Really enjoyed it! Pictured above, Coach Atkinson joins fellow members of the Northport basketball community, where he grew up. From right to left, his brother Steve, the Head Coach at Half Hollow Hills West, Ted Thomas, Editor of Long Island Basketball.com, Nets Coach Kenny Atkinson, one of 8 Atkinson brothers, Tom Fitzpatrick, the just retired head coach at Walt Whitman, Andrew D'Eloia, the Head Coach at Northport, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, Coach Fitzpatrick's son and an up and coming player in the Northport School District.
Long Island Improves To 3-0
Shorthanded, everybody stepped up for Team Long Island and they rolled to their third straight impressive victory at NIKE/IS8, with Deer Park's Malik Edmead leading the balanced attack with 17 points. Corey Jones from Calhoun and Divaahd Lucas from Amityville both had 8 point games, and John Glenn's Josh Fenner had 7 to pace an attack that saw all 11 players on hand put points on the board. To top it off, their team defense was once again outstanding, and with Jarnel Rancy from Longwood and Tyreik Frazier from Westbury dominating the paint and rejecting more shots than I could count - Long Island won going away. Pool play wraps up next Saturday 9/29 with a 10 am first place showdown at the IS8 main gym, and the playoffs begin the weekend of 10/6, with times, locations, and match-ups to be announced.
Two Game Sweep In Opener
Team Long Island’s blistering defense generated double digit turnovers in back to back games, carrying Long Island to two dominating wins on opening day at NIKE/IS8. Long Island also thoroughly controlled the boards in both games and had 6 different players record blocked shots. Deer Park’s Malik Edmead and Baldwin’s Rhyjon Blackwell led the defensive charge, thoroughly frustrating both of our opponents and disrupting their offenses with relentless aggressiveness and quickness, LuHi’s Zed Key was unstoppable, going for 30 points and big rebound and blocked shot numbers in the more competitive second game, often finishing with thunderous dunks to lead what was an otherwise beautifully balanced attack. Westbury’s Tyreik Frazier, an athletic rebounder and shot blocker, and Blackwell, who had a fist full of assists and steals, both added 10 points in game 2, Edmead, who ran the point with great skill, had 9 and big assist and steal numbers, and Chaminade’s Michael O’Connell, who always plays aggressively, but with his head up and under control, finished with 8, while Longwood’s Jarnel Rancy was a shot blocking and rebounding machine. Every player on the roster got minutes and played well. 9/8
ROSTER/GAMES 1 AND 2
Rhyjon Blackwell, Baldwin
Malik Edmead, Deer Park
Tyreik Frazier, Westbury
Zed Key, LuHi
Divaahd Lucas, Amityville
Michael O'Connell, Chaminade
Ty-Shon Pannell, Central Islip
Tavin Phillipe - Pierre, Baldwin
Pierce Prendergast, Bayport BP
Jarnel Rancy, Longwood
Tyler St. Furcy, LWA
Jarell White, Bellport
We have been blessed with a problem most coaches only dream of - having more great players on our roster than we can possible bring to a game. You will undoubtedly see some of those players in future recaps.
EDITORS NOTE: I want to thank the Long Island basketball community for their enthusiastic support of Team Long Island. Our long term goal is to unite the community and help bring about the next Golden Age of Long Island basketball, and its beginning to feel like that's right around the corner! Thanks everyone for your encouragement. The kids feel the love!
Alzheimer's Game
The 9th annual Alzheimers All-Star Basketball Classic will be held Saturday, October 20th, at Central Islip High School. The first Suffolk County tryout, for both boys and girls players, will be September 25th from 7-9 pm at SUSA in Hauppauge. In Nassau, the first boys tryout is October 1st, 6 pm at Chaminade High School, and for girls, its Sep 28th 5 pm at LuHi.
Incredible Day For Zed
LuHi's Zed Key had a dominant Saturday, leading Team Long Island to back to back opening day wins at NIKE/IS8, and then stealing the thunder from all the New York City kids by winning MVP honors at Carmelo Anthony's "City Is Mine" Tournament. Shown above with his favorite NBA Player and fellow Long Islander Tobias Harris, another IS8 veteran.
FALL TRAVEL TEAM
TRYOUTS POSTED!
Who's That With
Wally Bachman?
Section 8 Basketball Coordinator and long time Jericho High School Coach Wally Bachman, with 440 career victories and counting, will be inducted into the Nassau County Hall Of Fame on September 26th. He is pictured above with St. Doms grad Rick Pitino and Long Island Basketball.com Editor Ted Thomas. This year's induction class also includes basketball legends Larry Brown from Long Beach, the late Beaver Smith from South Side, Lisa Smith from Hempstead, and Ambrose Moran from Sewanhaka.
High School Team Camp
The Farmingdale State Team Camp took place Sunday, September 16th on campus, featuring boys high school varsity teams from Nassau, Suffolk, and New York City. We didn't get to see everyone play, but we were particularly impressed by Longwood, Connetquot, and St. Anthony's. TEAMS AND SCHEDULES
2018-19
Class/Conference/League
Assignments
Public schools move up and down in size, and shift from one conference/league to another every season. Here are
WHAT DOES VILLANOVA LOOK FOR IN A RECRUIT?
Former Hofstra Coach Jay Wright has taken Villanova to the top of the basketball world. What do he and his staff look for in the players they recruit? STORY
Maldonado Stands Out At LI Nets Open Tryouts
Valley Stream South's Diego Maldonado was one of a handful of prospects that stood out at the Long Island Nets open tryout held September 15th. Maldonado, who played professionaly in Puerto Rico last season, had good careers at both VSS and Queens College, but is best know for stunning everybody by winning both the Long Island three point shooting and dunk contests his senior year in high school. STORY
Wrase To Hornets
Legendary Long Island Coach Rich Wrase, who guided Westhampton HS to a New York Federation State Championship and Suffolk Community College to a pair of Junior College National Championships, has joined the staff of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets as a scout. Last season, after leaving the Los Angeles Lakers, Coach Wrase guided Team Long Island to a semifinal run at the famous NIKE/IS8 Tournament, helping set the stage for what we believe is the beginning of the next Golden Age of Long Island basketball. We are all indebted to him for that and wish him the very best of luck with the Hornets.
NCBCA Top 100 Camp
Are you one of Nassau County's best boys basketball players? Nassau's top public school players will compete for spots in the Nassau County Top 40 All-Star Doubleheader, with a chance to represent Nassau in the Long Island Public School All-Star Game against Suffolk County. REGISTRATION for the Top 100 Camp will be Tuesday, Sept 25th 5:30 PM at the Island Garden in West Hempstead. This event is open to only Nassau County public HS players.
CAMP DATES:
Tuesday, Sept 25: 6-9 PM
Friday, Sept 28: 6-9 PM
The camp and the doubleheader raise money to pay for the post season awards given out by the Coaches Association. The cost is $65.
