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LONG ISLAND'S
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE!
NSCHSAA
LI Catholic League
2021-22 SEASON/OCTOBER
UPDATE
TEAM LONG ISLAND ROLLS TO
NYC BIG TIME TITLE
Team Long Island, traditionally put together to represent Long Island at the iconic NIKE/IS8 Tournament every fall and spring, had to find a new event this fall after New York City and PSAL COVID regulations prevented the historic event from being played. We settled on the 200 team NYC Big Time Tournament at the House Of Sports up in Ardsley as our main event, and with what we think is Team Long Island’s best three point shooting team ever, and with more practice time under our belts, felt confident going into it. Although we didn’t play well on Day 1, we still finished the day 2-0 thanks to big games from Nick Watts of Northport, Ryan Weiss from Hewlett, Macai John from Hauppauge, and Dakari Thomas from St. Anthony’s. We also had good performances from both Jeadon Hutchinson of St. Mary's and Jamir Stewart of Baldwin, with Hutchinson hitting some big baskets and Stewart saving the day by knocking down two pressure packed free throws to seal the victory in game two. Day 2 was a different story. Team Long Island was firing on all cylinders on Day 2! The defensive intensity we are known for was there, the ball movement that was missing on Day 1 was there, the moving without the ball was there, the crisp passing was there, and that all came together to unleash an incredible three point shooting barrage that lasted all day long and overwhelmed both of our previously undefeated opponents. Watts, who might be Long Island’s most improved player, has added a reliable three point shot to his big man repertoire and he was raining threes all day, Weiss, Nassau’s leading scorer last year as a sophomore, was raining threes, and so were Dakari Thomas, Mike Gitts from Commack, and David Debuscherre from Chaminade, while Macai John, Jacob Oka from Baldwin, and Watts effectively controlled the boards and the paint and Jalyke Gaines from St. Anthony’s, Preston Edmead from Deer Park, and Kamren Denhart from Sewanhaka selflessly orchestrated from the point, penetrating from the top and racking up assists feeding the hot shooters. It was a beautiful thing to see and led to two very impressive blow-out wins and the NYC Big Time Tournament Championship - Team Long Island’s first championship ever! Yes, it was our first ever because we’ve never played in anything other than IS8 before, and although we do well each year and have gone as far as the semifinals, a championship has eluded us. This dominant performance will be a great starting point for our spring team when they renew our quest for that first NIKE/IS8 title next March.
TEAM LONG ISLAND HEADS
TO NEW JERSEY
We needed a good test before playing in our big event of the fall, the NYC Big Time Tournament, and New Jersey has a reputation as a basketball hotbed, so we decided to sample that for ourselves and enter a Columbus Day weekend tournament there and hopefully get some good competition to prepare us. In hindsight, we probably jumped the gun a little bit because we had unexpectedly few practices leading up to it and hadn't installed any plays or most important, didn't get a chance to work on our press break, and that's what came back to haunt us. In our first game of the season, we started off playing like a team that had never played together before, falling into a quick hole, but Xavier Lewis from Hills East and Dakari Thomas from St. Anthony's settled us down, and then the two of them and Northport's Nick Watts, Hewlett's Ryan Weiss, and Hauppauge's Macai John sparked a rally that carried us to a double digit victory. We looked much better in game two, rolling behind the same group plus David DeBusschere and Mac Kelly from Chaminade and Jaedon Hutchinson from St. Mary's, and our impressive play continued in our semifinal matchup the following morning, where we built a big early lead. The difference was our semifinal opponent was the first opponent to throw an aggressive pressing and trapping defense at us, and without a press break installed, we wilted under the pressure and lost a close game. No shame. They were an IS8 worthy team that we should have beaten but didn't. After the game, I explained to the kids that as well as Team Long Island has done over the years, every one of those teams had at least 1 loss. This was ours.
ABOUT TEAM LONG ISLAND
For those of you not familiar with the program, Team Long Island brings together Long Island's best basketball players every year to represent us at the legendary NIKE IS8 Tournament in New York City. IS8 is an iconic New York City event that has hosted almost every great player in the New York City Metropolitan area over the years, and also brings in high level teams and talent from all over the country to take on New York's best. We've always done well in it, compiling a 49-9 record since we first entered and getting as far as the semifinals, so we're determined to continue that tradition with this years team and hopefully capture that elusive IS8 championship trophy.
This year's team has started practicing and the results so far have been very encouraging. Thanks to the quality and depth of our roster, we can put any of our 15 players out on the floor and know they'll get the job done. Even so, there have been a few kids that have been particularly impressive so far and deserve special mention. At the top of that list is the under the radar Macai John from Hauppauge. He is about 6'5, very athletic with a high motor, and is a rebounding and shot blocking specialist that knows how to put the ball in the basket. Second on the list is Dakari Thomas, a guard from St. Anthony's that earned one of the last spots on the roster. He really didn't excel at the tryouts, but at practice, he has been a relentless force, scoring inside and out and playing hard nosed defense. The final mention goes to another guard that was one of the last players to make the final roster, guard Michael Gitz from Commack. He is a three point specialist that moves well without the ball, has unlimited range on his jumper, and plays hard on both sides of the ball. The coaching staff is really excited about this team, and with Fall IS8 postponed due to New York City and PSAL COVID regulations, will be directing its attention to other high level tournaments in the region and getting this team ready for the return of IS8 this spring. We will keep you updated on our progress.
FALL 2021 ROSTER
The invitation only tryouts for the fall of 2021 team are complete. The players that made the fall roster are:
David DeBusschere, Chaminade
Kamren Denhart, Sewanhaka
Preston Edmead, Deer Park
Jalyke Gaines, St. Anthony's
Michael Gitz, Commack
Jeadon Hutchinson, St. Mary's
Macai John, Hauppauge
Mac Kelly, Chaminade
Xavier Lewis, Hills East
Aaron Nyantakyi, Brentwood
Jacob Oka, Baldwin
Jamir Stewart, Baldwin
Dakari Thomas, St. Anthony's
Nick Watts, Northport
Ryan Weiss, Hewlett
PAST TEAMS
Team Long Island brings Long Island's best basketball players together to represent us in high level events, but the COVID epidemic forced us to hold off for the spring and fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021. We have decided to publish the names of the players that would have been invited to represent us in order to recognize their excellence.
Here are the players that would have received invitations to tryouts:
FALL OF 2020 AND SPRING 2021
Rence Areola, Valley Stream Central
Mekhi Beckett, Mepham
Patrick Burke, Smithtown West
Darius Coleman, St. Mary’s
Jackson Cronin, Great Neck North
Ahmad Crowell, Manhasset
Anthony Daley, Deer Park
David Debusschere, Chaminade
Ryan Dunn, LuHi
Preston Edmead Deer Park
Jack Garside, Kings Park
Myles Goddard, Amityville
Pat Healy, Northport
Mikell Henry, Lawrence
Franklin Infante, East Rockaway
Macai John, Hauppauge
Colby Jordan, Hills West
Paul Jordan, LuHI
Jaden Kealy, Center Moriches
Luke Long, Garden City
Jonathan Maldonado, Elmont
Malachi Moore, Copiague
Joe Perlowski, Plainview
Jayden Reid, LuHi
Jordan Riley, Brentwood
Chris Toscano, Carey
Michael Warren Jr, Malverne
Jared Weakly, Holy Trinity
Ryan Weiss, Hewlett
Frank Wilson, Hills West
SPRING OF 2020 TEAM
(Tryouts had already been held in the fall of 2019)
Ahkeee Anderson, Center Moriches
Chris Boothe, Sachem East
Kieran Dorney, Chaminade
Malik Edmead, Deer Park
Darnell Evans, Amityville
Brandon Goldberg, Wantagh
Zed Key, LuHi
TJ Long, Holy Trinity
Spencer Malloy, Commack
Tyshon Pannell, Central Islip
Jordan Riley, Brentwood
Mike Sixsmith, Holy Trinity
Andre Snoddy, St. Anthonys
Nick Spinosa, Kellenberg
Brandon Weiss, Jericho
Editors note: In what might have been our strongest team ever, seven players from the spring of 2020 team are on D1 rosters this fall, three on D2, and the remaining 5 D3.
NCAA COACHES ON THE RISE
in an article titled "16 coaches on the rise entering the 21-22 season", two coaches with Long Island roots, Bryant's Jared Grasso and Norfolk State's Robert Jones, are included. STORY
RESULTS
PREMIER BASKETBALL
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Cougars 76 Hills East 68
SEMIFINALS
Cougars 63 Hauppauge 61
Hills East FORFEIT over Muffin Tops
TOWN OF HUNTIGTON
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Northport vs Kings Park
Never played due to weather related postponement
SEMIFINALS
Northport 42 Deer Park 38
Kings Park 51 Walt Whitman 37
COES NECK PARK
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Baldwin 74 Wyandanch 71
SEMIFINALS
Baldwin 51 Sewanhaka 41
Wyandanch 66 Team Recruits 57
ST. ANTHONY'S SUMMER LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Hills East 57 Northport 46
SEMIFINALS
Northport 43 St. Anthony's 40
TOWN OF BROOKHAVEN
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME/LARGE SCHOOL
Ward Melville 37 Comsewogue 31
SEMIFINALS/LARGE SCHOOL
Comsewogue 65 Newfield 46
Ward Melville 46 Smithtown West 44
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME/SMALL SCHOOL
Mount Sinai 52 Center Moriches 40
SEMIFINALS/SMALL SCHOOL
Mount Sinai 44 Pierson 41
Center Moriches 56 Shoreham WR 30
BAD END TO SUMMER GAME
Wyandanch upset Holy Trinity and Team Recruits to advance to the championship game of the Coes Neck Park Summer League against host Baldwin, but an exciting game was interrupted by unruly fans. STORY BY DAVE GRAFF
BRENTWOOD'S RILEY
GATORADE POY!
Brentwood's Jordan Riley swept both of New York's top individual basketball honors, adding the Gatorade New York Player Of The Year award to go with his New York Mr. Basketball award from the Basketball Coaches Association of New York. Riley is the first Long Island player to win both awards since Amityville great Jason Fraser did it following the 2002 season.
REVISED ALL-COUNTY!
It was a very difficult season to collect data and stats, with some coaches hesitant to submit nominations because so many players had played in only a handful of games, but after we published our selections, a number of deserving players came to our attention and have been added to our lists. Revisit our All-County selections for additions.
NYSPHSAA HALL OF FAME
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) has announced it will formally induct its Class of 2020 Hall of Fame on July 28th at the Resorts World Catskills in Monticello, NY. The 2020 induction ceremony was cancelled due to COVID-19 which therefore has resulted in NYSPHSAA foregoing a Class of 2021 induction.
Long Islanders inducted in this HOF class include Section 8s Marie Terc, a highly respected long-time official in 5 high school sports, including basketball, and Diane Chapman of Garden City HS, who is one of only a few coaches in New York State history to be among the top five winningest coaches in two varsity sports.- lacrosse and field hockey.
JORDAN RILEY
NEW YORK
MR. BASKETBALL!
Brentwood's Jordan Riley, who will be attending Georgetown of the Big East next fall, earned New York State's highest basketball honor with his selection as New York's Mr. Basketball for the historic 2020-21 season. The award is presented annually by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York. Riley was First Team All-New York State last season and Long Island's leading scorer and Player Of The Year this season. STORY
PLAYER NEWS
Pierre To Providence
All-Long Island guard Jayden Pierre from LuHi has committed to Providence
Dunn To Virginia
LuHi's Ryan Dunn - an All-Long Island native of Freeport, committed to Virginia of the ACC.
Zeigler To Tennessee
Brentwood native Zakai Zeigler, who started his career at Brentwood HS, moved to Upper Room, and has played for a number of other schools off of Long Island, has signed to play at Tennessee.
Bland To St. Peter's
Hills West guard Brent Bland, All-Long Island and All-Suffolk County as a senior, has signed to play at St. Peter's of the MAAC Conference.
Snoddy To C. Connecticut
St. Anthony's Andre Snoddy, an All-New York State and All-Long Island selection as a senior, has committed to Central Connecticut of the NEC.
Pinzon, Traore To St. John's
LuHi's Andres Pinzon and Drissa Traore
are both headed to St. John's of the Big East
Spinoso To Penn
Kellenberg's Nick Spinoso, who earned both All-Long Island and All-New York State honors as a senior, has committed to Penn of the Ivy League.
TJ Long To Fairfield
Holy Trinity's TJ Long, All-New York State and All-Long Island as a senior, has committed to Fairfield of the MAAC. STORY
Klaczek To St. Joe's
LuHi's Kacper Klaczek will be heading to Philly and St. Joseph's of the Atlantic 10.
Marrero to LaSalle
Upper Room's Andres Andres Marrero has committed to LaSalle of the A10 Conference.
Cronin To Nebraska
Great Neck North's Jackson Cronin will walk on at Nebraska of the Big Ten.
Prendergast To GW
Bayport-Blue Point's Pierce Prendergast, who was an All-Long Island Sophomore before transferring to prep school, will walk-on at George Washington of the Atlantic 10.
ALL-LONG ISLAND FRESHMEN
Not many Freshmen got a chance to shine this abbreviated season, but those that did were very impressive.
ALL-LONG ISLAND SOPHOMORES
Another talented and deep class!
ALL-NASSAU COUNTY!
ALL-SUFFOLK COUNTY!
PREMIER BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
Premier Basketball is sponsoring both boys and girls basketball tournaments this season! MORE
NY HS MADNESS
The were a million obstacles to overcome for this tournament to be a success, but Portledge Coach Nick Tsikitas and his staff managed to pull it off, and in the end, two New York City teams projected to be among the city’s best coming into the 2020-21 season advanced to the final and staged an epic public/catholic showdown, with players from the CHSAA’s St. Francis Prep emerging as the New York High School Madness Tournament Champions, holding off a late run from players from the PSAL’s Thomas Jefferson 60-58.
NSCHSAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Chaminade 65
St. Mary's 47
The Flyers, who lost to St. Mary's just 9 days ago, turned in their second straight dominating playoff performance, racing out to a 20-8 first quarter lead and rolling over the Gaels to capture the 2021 NSCHSAA Boys Basketball Championship. St. Mary's was on a winning streak and fresh off an impressive upset of top seeded Holy Trinity in the semifinals, but could never get back into it. BOX SCORE
COLLEGE REPORT
NCAA TOURNAMENT
LuHi's Andre Curbelo had 8 points and 5 assists in Illinois's win over Drexel. Holy Trinity's Cam Wynter has 6 points for Drexel.... Forner Stony Brook Coach Steve Pikiell, who led the Seawolves to their first NCAA Tournament, and his Rutgers team advanced with a win over Clemson.... Brentwood's Mike Almonacy had 7 points and 6 rebounds in Appalachian State's loss to Norfolk State, coached by former St. Mary's Coach Jim Jones..... St. Dom's Rick Pitino and his Iona team were eliminated by #2 regional seed Alabama
.... Zed Key and his Ohio State team were upset by Oral Roberts.... Tyson Etienne and his Wichita State team were eliminated by Drake.
NEW SWEET 16 COACHES POLL!
SWEET 16 PREDICAMENT
The results of the latest poll have created a problem for the Sweet 16 panel. Two teams - Hills East and Hills West - are now tied for #1 in the poll after LuHi plummeted out of the top spot when it became likely that they would play only 1 game this season. Both Hills East and Hills West have ended their seasons, so if, in the final poll held after the end of the NSCHSAA playoffs, they remain tied, then the tie-breaker will be used to crown our #1 team. Let's hope it resolves itself before then. POLL
HS MARCH MADNESS!
There will be no sectional or state playoffs this season, but there will be a big post season basketball event in the region after all! The First Annual New York High School Madness Tournament will begin on March 17th and welcomes teams from all over the region. We will do out best to provide coverage of as many games involving Long Island teams as we can.
MILESTONES
Tom Diana, Uniondale 400 wins
Pete Basel, Hills East 200 wins
Nick Thomas, Center Moriches, 150 wins
GAMES OF 3/5/21
Kellenberg 55
#12 Chaminade 54
The Firebirds hadn't been heard from until today, when they rose up and knocked Chaminade out of first place. Parity in the NSCHSAA is a beautiful thing. Every team now has at least one big win, and it's looking like the playoffs, which begin 3/15, will be very competitive and bring the 2020-21 season to an exciting conclusion. BOX SCORE
SJB 64 St. Mary's 57
The Cougars continue to round into playoff shape, while the Gaels seem to be faltering after getting off to a great start. Still plenty of games left, though.
ALL-LONG ISLAND
Catholic and private school teams got off to a late start and their seasons continue, but once they are complete, we will once again choose our All-Long Island teams, and a coach and player of the year, as we do every year!
SUFFOLK PLAYOFFS
#13 Northport 58
#2 Brentwood 56
Brentwood has dominated every game they’ve played this season, jumping off to an average 25 point halftime lead on their way to an average 33 point win, and they have been racking up an average of 89 points per game. That gives you an idea of how outstanding the Northport defensive effort was in this conference championship game and how big the magnitude of the upset. 2/28
#2 Brentwood 83
Commack 49
Brentwood continues to dismantle every team they face, and a very good Commack team is their latest victim. 2/27 BOX SCORE
Shoreham WR 64 Mattituck 54
Both of these teams have been very pleasant surprises this season and both want a crack at heavy favorite Center Moriches. SWR earned the right and gave CM a good fight during their regular season matchup. 2/27 BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/24/21
Hills West 65 Hauppauge 57
Unfortunately, due to this season’s format, this loss to the 4th ranked Colts could knock Hauppauge’s best team in many years out of the playoffs. They gave #16 Kings Park everything they could handle too. A classic playoff dark-horse in normal times. BOX SCORE
Plainview 54 Port Washington 39
We kind of forgot about the team that handed Baldwin an early season loss, but the still unbeaten Hawks came out of quarantine firing on all cylinders, holding a good Port Washington team to 1 point in the second quarter. BOX SCORE
Locust Valley 46 North Shore 34
Two undefeated teams went at it, and both struggled to score, but the Falcons slowly pulled away in the 4th quarter to improve to 7-0. BOX SCORE
SWR 67 Wyandanch 62
SWR is a team to look out for in the playoffs. A deserving Wyandanch team will probably miss them. BOX SCORE
Friends Acad 65 Malverne 59
A good Quakers team that would be a serious playoff threat in normal times knocks off the Mules. BOX SCORE
SECTION 11 PLAYOFFS
Section 8/Nassau County will not have season ending playoffs of any kind. Section 11/Suffolk County will, but in a completely different format. Suffolk County/Section 11’s eight leagues will be divided up into four conferences. League’s 1 and 2 will form one Conference, as will League’s 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8. The games will take place over two days - Saturday 2/27 and Sunday 2/28, and the champions of the four conferences will be crowned. The participants will be the top four teams in each conference, determined by W-L records and head to head matchups, with a seeding committee breaking any ties. There will be no individual class champions, no county champions, no Long Island champions, and no state tournament.
GAMES OF 2/22/21
Kings Park 56 Hauppauge 48
The best Hauppauge team in some time, who came into the game 6-0, made a second half run but fell short. BOX SCORE
Amityville 49 Sayville 45
The three point shot kept Sayville in the game, but the Warriors had too much in the end. BOX SCORE
Uniondale 45 Port Washington 44
The Port Washington program has been one of Nassau’s best in recent years, and battled the Knights right down to the wire in their fist game back from quarantine, losing on a floater at the buzzer.
SWR 75 Southampton 55
This game might have been for a playoff spot, so big win for the Wildcats.
North Shore 53 Wantagh 46
Another big win for 6-0 North Shore, who kept pace with 6-0 Locust Valley in Nassau Conference 7.
Friends Acad 61 Oyster Bay 43
Friends improved to 4-0. Good team
GAMES OF 2/14/21
Hills East 69 C Moriches 66
Two strong programs in rebuilding mode that are both looking good so far, and the Class AA school got the best of the Class B school. Apologies to the Thunderbirds, but it's hard not to think about how good they would be if the two young starters from last season had stayed put, because this is a very good team without them. Credit to both the kids and the coach for picking up where they left off. Although this CM team might not be quite as good as the super teams that preceded them the past few years, they are still good and will be heard from. BOX SCORE
St Mary's 56 St Anthony's 38
Gaels the team to beat in the Catholics? They started the season with a win over Holy Trinity and now the Friars!
Mattituck 57 Mt. Sinai 54 OT
Yes, the season is young, but two unbeaten teams went to OT in one of the best games so far. Mattituck lost perhaps the best player in program history to graduation, but they look like they can still be a contender in Class B this season. BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/12/21
Commack 59 Bay Shore 44
The Jack Agostino era at Bay Shore has begun. It will take time. BOX SCORE
NSCHSAA Inversion!
St. Mary's 68 Holy Trinity 66
St. Dominic 66 Chaminade 50
SJB 47 St. Anthony's 45
Heavy graduation losses at the top of the standings and young talent at the bottom, and this is what happens! There are new names to keep an eye on and we'll fill you in as the season progresses.
Deer Park 100 Centereach 60
There is great young talent at Deer Park and we’ll see how they handle upcoming tests, but looking good so far!
Wheatley 55 CS Harbor 38
Wheatley is off to an impressive start. Definitely a team to watch. BOX SCORE
FREEPORT STAR KILLED
Danyel Saint-Louis, 17, a senior and the school's starting point guard, died after he was struck about 7:14 p.m. by a passing vehicle near the Southern State Parkway exit after losing control of his car and crashing into a center median, according to State Police.
NIKO ROBERTS GETS MOUNTAIN WEST POST
Long Island's Niko Roberts, who starred at St. Anthony's, has been named Associate Commissioner of the D1 Mountain West Conference!
PSAL SEASON COMPLETED
It looked like it was never going to happen, but the PSAL 2020-21 basketball season finally got underway and is now complete. Player turnout was spotty, and forfeits were common, but some interest stats emerged. For complete coverage, go to: NewYorkStateHighSchoolBasketball.com
NEW COLLEGE
SUMMER LEAGUE
I don't think we've ever had as many requests to put on an event as we had to put together a new summer league just for college players. Many of them did not have a 2020-21 season, and many others only abbreviated seasons, so they were all very anxious to play. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a facility willing to host it.
NEW YORK STATE'S
ALL-SECTION TEAMS
New York State's best basketball players so far, with NYC yet to come.
NEW YORK STATE
TEAM RANKINGS
LuHi makes it to the top once again, joined by 5 more Long Island teams in top 20! We'll see how it changes after NYC's spring season.
PITINO TO COACH
GREEK NATIONAL TEAM
Before his successful return to college basketball at Iona this past season, which concluded with a MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament bid, St. Doms grad Rick Pitino coached a professional team in Greece with great success and was recruited to coach the Greek National Team in its quest to earn a spot at the Tokyo Olympic Games. There were some questions about his availability once he returned to the states, but he is looking forward to it and will begin coaching the team at the upcoming qualifying tournament to be held June 26th to July 4th in Canada.
SPEEDY CLAXTON NEW HOFSTRA COACH!
Hempstead native Speedy Claxton, the former NBA player that starred at Hofstra and is an assistant coach, has been named the new Head Coach at his alma-mater. STORY
WILL BROWN OUT AS ALBANY COACH
Will Brown, who averaged more than 35 PPG his senior year at Miller Place and was First Team All-New York State, has been ousted as University Of Albany Head Coach after 20 years at the helm.
FINAL 2020-21
SWEET 16 POSTED!
*************
LUHI SWEEPS
LUHI 66 STEPINAC 39
At home, where they have been practicing for two straight months, a lot of the rust disappeared and Lutheran rolled to finish their season at 3-0.
LUHI STORY 3/24
LUHI 47 STEPINAC 46
The Long Island Lutheran "A" team had only played one game this season, a convincing win over PSAA Champion Portledge, and it was beginning to look like COVID would completely wipe out the rest of their schedule, but a change in CHSAA policy opened the doors, and the Crusaders, whose season officially ends Friday, took advantage, booking a home and home series against CHSAA powerhouse Stepinac. Both teams looked rusty, but it was competitive right from the start and after falling behind in the second half, Stepinac rallied to take a 1 point lead with just 13 seconds remaining. LuHi sophomore Jayden Reid, who had a big second half off the bench, came to the rescue, plunging from the top through traffic and scoring in the final seconds for the dramatic victory. Game two is Wednesday at LuHi.
LOHUD STORY 3/23
NSCHSAA QUARTERS
St. Mary's 74
SJB 65
The Gaels jumped out to a 10 point halftime lead and held off the Cougars to advance to a semifinal match-up with #1 seed Holy Trinity. BOX SCORE 3/21
Kellenberg 56
St. Anthony's 41
The Firebirds continued to advance, upsetting 4th seed and defending champion St. Anthony's. Next up, #2 Chaminade. BOX SCORE 3/21
NY HS MADNESS
FLOYD OPENS 2-0
Floyd, whose boys HS basketball team finished the abbreviated 2020-21 season with a 3-2 league record in powerful Section 11 League 1, was a late entry and found themselves in the preliminary rounds of the New York High School Madness Tournament. They took full advantage, sweeping their first two games over St. Vincent from Sewanhaka and SGHS 2 The Rack, location unknown. Next up the Orange Bombers from Brooklyn, Saturday at 2:50 PM.
EM ALL-STARS AND
ST. VINCENT DEPAUL SPLIT
EM knocked off Van City from Queens but fell to the Bobcats from Brooklyn. Next up, the Vikings Basketball Club from Brooklyn, 1:40 PM Saturday. SVDP fell to another LI team - Floyd, and beat SGHS 2 The Rack. Next up, Don't Leave NYC, 5:10 PM Saturday.
PITINO/IONA IN NCAA
Legendary Long Island basketball Hall of Fame coach Tim Cluess had firmly established an NCAA Basketball Tournament tradition at Iona, taking the Gaels to 6 NCAA Tournaments during his 9 year tenure, including four straight from 2016 to 2019, but when he was forced to resign for health reasons, that tradition looked to be in jeopardy. That's when the Iona administration made the bold move to hire another Long Islander, the very talented but scandal ridden Rick Pitino, to take over for Cluess, and the gamble quickly paid off! In his first season, Pitino guided the 9th seeded Gaels to the MAAC Tournament title and another spot in the NCAA Tournament! That continues the great Long Island tradition at Iona established by Sachem's Jeff Ruland, who led the Gaels to the 1980 NCAA Tournament and went on to become an NBA All-Star. NY POST STORY
PSAA PLAYOFFS
The first PSAA Semifinal had LWA rolling over the new LuHi "B" team 74-50 to improve to 4-1 overall, but COVID has reared its ugly head and disrupted the rest of the playoff schedule. LWA will now play the winner of the postponed Knox/Portledge semifinal on 3/18 for the title! Or will they? Stay tuned! 3/13
GAMES OF 3/7/21
#12 Chaminade 34
#8 Holy Trinity 32
Another broken shot clock game! These two teams play these matchups like they were playoff games, treating every possession like the game was on the line, and it often is! BOX SCORE
SJB 48 St. Dominic 43
The Cougars reached the .500 level with their second straight win, pulling into a tie with St. Mary's, who they beat in their previous game. BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 3/2/21
#7 Holy Trinity 51 SJB 46
The Titans are once again contenders, but the young Cougars have started to mature and are a threat now too. They're searching for consistency and probably still a year away, but you never know in the playoffs! BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 3/1/21
Chaminade 68 SJB 41
The Flyers were unimpressive in their season opening loss to St. Dominic, but they have reeled off 5 straight one sided wins since returning from quarantine, surging into first place in the Long Island Catholic League. They have a good test tonight against second place Holy Trinity, who they are facing for the first time this season. BOX SCORE
SUFFOLK PLAYOFFS
#3 Hills West 82
#16 Kings Park 72
We had a pretty good idea of who the best two Class A teams in Suffolk were, and of the two, who was the best, and that's the way the season played out. They say you need at least three players capable of a big time performance to be a champion, and the Colts have 4! One of Long Island's best teams, period. 2/28
GAMES OF 2/28/21
St. Anthony's 52 St. Mary's 35
The Friars lost to the 11th ranked Gaels by an almost identical score earlier in the season. Their quick turn-around has been very impressive.
SUFFOLK PLAYOFFS
#4 Hills East 61
Bellport 52
The relentless Thunderbirds held off repeated Bellport rallies to advance. 2/27
GAMES OF 2/27/21
#1 LuHi "A" 85 Portledge 47
A very impressive debut for the LuHi “A” team (they have both an A and a B team this season) against a very good Portledge team. Both teams have struggled to put together a schedule this season. If you can help, let us know!
#5 Elmont 57 Bellmore 47
Like last season, a very good Elmont team, and unfortunately, like last season, we’ll never get to find out just how good. BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/25/21
#15 Uniondale 47 Hicksville 35
Hall of Fame Coach Tom Diana wins game #400! Nine Nassau County Championships, including two of the last three. BOX SCORE
#5 Elmont 63 Carey 42
Elmont is a buzz saw, slicing through one opponent after another to the tune of a 20 ppg average margin of victory. It was Carey’s first loss of the season.
#13 Northport 34 Commack 29
Was the shot clock broken? An old school grind it out, down to the wire battle between two big rivals and a possible playoff elimination game! BOX SCORE
Bellport 71 Comsewogue 65
This was a playoff elimination game, and Comsewogue is out despite having a terrific team - the best at the school in many years! COVID injustice! BOX SCORE
Bay Shore 67 Connetquot 55
That old Agostino magic has the Marauders in a three way tie for first, and only two will advance to the playoffs! Its in the hands of the seeding committee now! BOX SCORE
EDITORS NOTE: THE SEEDING COMMITEE DECIDED ON A 1 GAME PLAYOFF FOR THE LAST SPOT.
Bay Shore @ Commack
6 PM tonight!
GAMES OF 2/21/21
Brentwood 73 Ward Melville 49
Long Island’s #2 team made short work of previously unbeaten Ward Melville.
Hills East 48 Smithtown West 44
Hills East just keeps winning, and this game showed they can win ugly too.
C. Moriches 71 Deer Park 59
Tough to match up with the big boys at CM. BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/18/21
A SNOW DAY!
GAMES OF 2/17/21
Bay Shore 46 Northport 44
We said it would take time for Hall Of Fame Coach Jack Agostino to transform the Bay Shore program, but it's happening a little sooner than we expected! Easily the biggest upset of the season so far. BOX SCORE
Massapequa 65 Westbury 60
Westbury’s quarantine is finally over, but they invited the wrong team to the celebration! BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/13/21
Plainview 59 Herricks 28
Plainview seems to have the pieces for a good run this season! BOX SCORE
EDITORS NOTE: Plainview has just been put on PAUSE for COVID related reasons. They may not be able to play again this season.
Uniondale 64 Freeport 31
The home opener of a very sad season for the Knights and for all of us.
Hauppauge 59 Harborfilds 54
Hauppauge? It’s been a while since they had a contender, but this year’s squad just might change that. BOX SCORE
SWR 61 John Glenn 52
Watch out for SWR this season! They have talent! BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/16/21
Massapequa 52 Uniondale 39
Needless to say, big win for the Chiefs! BOX SCORE
Holy Trinity 71 St. Dominic 63
Still sorting things out in the Catholic league but Holy Trinity looking like a solid contender. BOX SCORE
Smithtown W 50 Smithtown E 43
Always a can't miss game, both of these cross-town rivals are good this season, so the match-up could have playoff implications as well. BOX SCORE
E. Meadow 64 Oceanside 50
East Meadow is one of those changing of the guard teams that was solid last season and has young talent, so they are looking to be serious contenders this season. BOX SCORE
St Mary's 63 SJB 53
Early test of possible NSCHSAA contenders this season.
ATHLETIC DIRECTORS MEET
Dr. Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA Executive Director and Todd Nelson, Assistant Director, will meet with Section 8 Athletic Directors at a workshop on September 17th. Topics such as eligibility standards, NYSED Regulations, review of recently revised rules and an overview of the NYSPHSAA Handbook will be covered during the two-hour workshop. The Section 11 workshop is scheduled for October 4th.
NEW YORK CITY REQUIRES VACCINATIONS
As of August 17, people 12 and older are required to show proof that they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before they are allowed to enter indoor restaurants or entertainment facilities, and reading the announcement, sports facilities are considered entertainment facilities.
KNICKS/NETS MUST BE VACCINATED
Both New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets players will be required to be vaccinated.
RIVALRIES NEVER DIE!
Thanks to former Long Island basketball stars Bryant Lassiter of Bay Shore and Alvin Vivican of Brentwood, we have a great new event on the summer calendar. It's called "Rivalries Never Die" and it's now in its 6th year and features heated competition between alumni dream teams from many of Long Island's best high school basketball programs - 13 of them in this years edition! Our own Chris Palermo has the COVERAGE!
THE GOLD MEDAL MENS OLYMPIC BASKETBALL TEAM
NO USA MEN'S 3 ON 3
IN OLYMPICS
Jordan Riley
Brentwood
Riley became the favorite for this award after his outstanding junior year, which saw him earn First Team All-New York State honors, and he followed it up with an even better senior season. Smart, strong, and athletic, he is the definition of a dominant player.
COACH OF
THE YEAR
GREECE/PITINO FALL SHORT
In order to qualify for a spot in the Olympic Games, Long Island's Rick Pitino had to lead the Greek National team to the title of their Olympic Qualifying Tournament, despite missing their two best players - NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greek legend Vassilis Spanoulis, plus two other important national team veterans. The Greeks, like most Pitino coached teams, overachieved, advancing all the way to the championship game by beating China and then arch-rival Turkey with a young, inexperienced team on the floor. They then caught what looked like a big break when favored Canada was upset by the Czech Republic in the semifinals, but they couldn’t overcome the Czech's big 29-7 third quarter run and fell 97-72 in the title game. Had they advanced, Antetokounmpo, his brother Thanasis and some of the recuperated national team veterans were expected to join them in Tokyo and become a formidable challenger. After the loss, Pitino, who had accepted the offer to coach the team while he was in Greece coaching a Greek Euro League team, posted: “It was a fabulous run coaching the players of Greece. They have great passion and I’ll always be rooting for them from afar. Principles and style were learned and the future is bright!” EDITORS NOTE: Coach Pitino was interviewed months later about the experience and gave a terrific interview. STORY
MICKEY CROWLEY DEAD AT 85
Former NCAA basketball official Mickey Crowley dies at 85. Newsday Story 5/9
LONGISLANDBASKETBALL.COM'S
PLAYER OF
THE YEAR
Pete Basel
Hills East
His young team finished the 2020 season as one of the top teams on Long Island, but expectations plummeted after two of his best players transferred to other schools. The Thunderbirds would not be denied, regrouping to finish 2021 with a county title and Long Island's best overall record at 10-0.
FIRST TEAM
ALL-LONG ISLAND
Jack Garside
Kings Park
Myles Goddard
Amityville
Pat Healy
Northport
Jaden Kealey
Center Moriches
Colby Jordan
Hills West
Luke Long
Garden City
Jonathan Maldonado
Elmont
Jordan Riley
Brentwood
Michael Warren Jr.
Malverne
Jared Weakly
Holy Trinity
SECOND TEAM
Mekhi Beckett
Mepham
Brent Bland
Hills West
Patrick Burke
Smithtown West
Darius Coleman
St. Mary’s
Franklin Infante
East Rockaway
Khalil London
St. Dominic
Joe Perlowski
Plainview
Jayden Pierre
LuHi
Jayden Reid
LuHi
Aaron Talbert
Knox
HONORABLE MENTION
Manu Alford, Holy Trinity
Zaire Baines, Portledge
Brent Bland, Hills West
Pol Canals, LWA
Ahmad Crowell, Manhasset
David DeBusschere, Chaminade
Tom Decker, Farmingdale
Ryan Dunn, LuHi
Preston Edmead, Deer Park
Jordan Evelyn, Uniondale
Drew Feinstein, Port Jefferson
Liam Gray, Comsewogue
Mikell Henry, Lawrence
Leisaan Hibbert, Hills East
Paul Jordan, LuHi
Kacper Klazcek, LuHi
Josh Mangum, Smithtown Chr
Jahmir Primer, Portledge
Isaiah Randolph, Brentwood
Marqiis Samuels, East Meadow
Chris Toscano, Carey
Drissa Traore, LuHi
Ryan Weiss, Hewlett
LONG ISLAND IN TRANSFER PORTAL
Tyrone Lyons from St. Anthony's, Pauly Paulicap from Elmont, and Tavin Pierre-Phillipe from Baldwin have all joined an unprecedented number of college basketball players that have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal in anticipation of the NCAA waving the requirement that a player must sit out for a year when they transfer. STORY LIST OF PLAYERS
PITINO HAPPY AT IONA
Has big plans for the program
ALL-LONG ISLAND COLLEGIATE TEAM
Long Island's Best College Basketball Players
FIRST TEAM
*Hall Elisias
Bryant/VS South
*KC Ndefo
St. Peter’s/Elmont
*Tyson Etienne
Wichita State/LuHi
*Jared Rhoden
Seton Hall/Baldwin
*Cam Wynter
Drexel/Holy Trinity
SECOND TEAM
*Isaac Kante
Hofstra
*Mouhamadou Gueye
Stony Brook
*Jalen Ray
Hofstra
*Mike Almonacy
Appalachian State/Brentwood
*Lester Quinones
Memphis/Brentwood
THIRD TEAM
*Pauly Paulicap
DePaul/Elmont
*Frankie Policelli
Stony Brook/LuHi
*Tyrone Lyons
North Carolina A&T/St. Anthony’s
*Tareq Coburn
Hofstra
*Andre Curbelo
Illinois/LuHi
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Mike Sixsmith
Sacred Heart/Holy Trinity
Malik Edmead
Merrimack/Deer Park
Michael O'Connell
Stanford/Chaminade
Zed Key
Ohio State/LuHi
Andre Curbelo
Illinois/LuHi
PSAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Portledge 64
LWA 61
COVID wreaked havoc on private school basketball schedules, but despite only a handful of teams participating, and constant schedule changes due to quarantines, the PSAA admirably managed to finish their season, and appropriately, with a terrific game. LWA Senior Daniel Carrión hit a dramatic contested three-point shot from the corner with just seconds left to tie the game at 61-61, but the Panthers got to the free throw line and clinched it.
LUHI'S LOST SEASON
Long Island Lutheran has been one of Long Island's and New York's premier basketball programs for many years, and since their move up to Class AA back in 2013, has finished ranked #1 in our Sweet 16 Coaches Poll seven times, with only the 2015 Brentwood team breaking through. But the Crusaders play an independent schedule and all of their games are non-league, so between the league games only COVID restrictions at the public and Catholic schools, a complete cancellation of the New York City basketball season, and travel restrictions that prevent out of state trips, their usually very demanding schedule has been decimated. They did manage to put together a brief schedule against other local private schools, but all but one of those games has been cancelled and no make-up dates posted. The result: Sweet 16 voters, who have kept them #1 this season based strictly on preseason prognostications, are becoming reluctant to crown them Long Island's best team based strictly on potential. In fact, our latest coaches poll has dropped them down to #5, and if they don't play again, which seems likely, they may probably drop further, if not out of the poll altogether. A shame. 3/16
GAMES OF 3/14/21
St. Mary's 51
#12 Chaminade 48
As if one cue, the struggling Gaels, who got off to an impressive start this season, stood up and made sure nobody counted them out of this year's playoffs!
GAMES OF 3/12/21
#8 Holy Trinity 50 SJB 39
The Titans solidified their position on top on the NSCHSAA standings, taking a half game lead over idle Chaminade by cooling off a hot SJB squad.
GAMES OF 3/9/21
St. Dominic 62 St. Mary's 59
Two teams that have struggled recently, but none more than the Bayhawks, and they showed they are still to be feared.
NSCHSAA PLAYOFFS
The NSCHSAA playoff schedule is set, with the first game scheduled for March 19th and the finals for March 22nd, but the standings and seedings still have to be sorted out.
GAMES OF 3/3/21
#8 Holy Trinity 48
#12 Chaminade 45
In the early weeks of the season, it looked like the standings in the Catholic League had been turned upside down from last year, but the Titans and the Flyers have both righted the ship, and it looks like the Friars have too. This one was a good old-fashioned NSCHSAA first place showdown BOX SCORE 3/3
COLLEGE UPDATE
Elmont's Pauly Paulicap had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks in DePaul's loss to Marquette. 3/2
SUFFOLK PLAYOFFS
#4 Hills East 60 Smithtown West 48
Hills East has been outstanding all season long, finishing 10-0 and with every coaches dream - a balanced attack, a hounding defense, and a ferocious team spirit. It's a credit to the kids and the coaching staff how well this team turned adversity into strength, and one thing's for sure, they'll be back again next year 2/28 BOX SCORE FULL GAME
Smithtown West 67
#12 Deer Park 56
The Bulls had only one real test coming into this big semifinal match-up, and it was a four point loss to undefeated Hills East, but this underrated Smithtown West team proved to be too much for the young and talented Falcons. 2/27
BOX SCORE
#16 Kings Park 61
#9 Amityville 45
This year’s Amityville Warriors don’t have the overall strength and balance of last year’s squad, and the Kingsmen were all over them from the opening tap. 2/27
Commack 47
Bay Shore 44
Commack rallied from a double digit second half deficit to defeat Bay Shore 47-44 and advance to the Conference 1 Semifinals against top seeded Brentwood. Game time 12 PM Saturday. 2/26
BOX SCORE NEWS 12 HIGHLIGHTS
QUARANTINE TEAMS
The following teams have been or are currently in quarantine:
Baldwin, Carle Place, Division, Eastport-South Manor, Greenport, Herricks, Manhasset, Mattituck, Pierson, Plainview, Port Washington, Roslyn, Southampton, Syosset, Valley Stream North, Valley Stream South, Wantagh, Walt Whitman, Westbury, Wheatley.
More will be added to the list.
THOMAS EARNS 150TH WIN
Center Moriches Head Coach Nick Thomas has been piling up wins at a rapid pace, and already has 150!
GAMES OF 2/20/21
Syosset 53 East Meadow 39
A quality Sweet 16 showdown win for the 5-0 Braves, who are one of only two undefeated Class AA teams in Nassau. The other, Plainview, is in quarantine. BOX SCORE
Commack 51 Walt Whitman 44
The Wildcats finally played their first game of the season and gave a good Commack team everything they could handle. BOX SCORE
VS Central 50 Mepham 45
The last Valley Stream team standing, with North and South both in quarantine, and they won a Conference A1 first place showdown, and what a showdown it was! Tied after 1 quarter, a 1 point game at the half, and tied after 3 quarters! BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/16/21
Massapequa 52 Uniondale 39
Needless to say, big win for the Chiefs! BOX SCORE
Holy Trinity 71 St. Dominic 63
Still sorting things out in the Catholic league but Holy Trinity looking like a solid contender. BOX SCORE
Smithtown West 50 Smithtown East 43
Always a can't miss game, both of these cross-town rivals are good this season, so the match-up could have playoff implications as well. BOX SCORE
E Meadow 64 Oceanside 50
East Meadow is one of those changing of the guard teams that was solid last season and has young talent, so they are looking to be serious contenders this season. BOX SCORE
St Mary's 63 SJB 53
Early test of possible NSCHSAA contenders this season.
"THEORY AND TECHNIQUES OF COACHING" CLASS
A class that is a New York State requirement for any non-certified physical education major coaching in public schools will be offered online through the Westbury Adult Education program and will be conducted by veteran championship coach Dave Graff of Westbury. Classes will be held on Tuesdays from 6 to 8pm starting October 26th. See the attached flyer for more information. FLYER
HIGH LEVEL PRESEASON HS SHOWCASE ON LONG ISLAND
A terrific preseason High School Showcase is coming together here on Long Island at The Fieldhouse in Massapequa. Top teams from all over the region, featuring Long Island preseason Sweet 16 candidates Hills East, St. John The Baptist, and Brentwood, in addition to teams from New York City, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania, will battle it out and tons of talent will be on display. Come enjoy the games the weekend of October 16th and 17th. We will post the schedules when they are finalized. Our thanks to Lucky Brannon and his Manhattan Sports Academy for adding another high profile event to the Long Island basketball calendar!
SCHOOL BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE!
There is a shortage of school bus drivers that could impact traveling to away games. Some bus companies are offering incentives including signing bonuses!
ALZHEIMERS GAME TRYOUTS
After two days of Suffolk County Team tryouts, the the following players were invited back for round 3, Tuesday 9/28 from 7 to 9 pm at Amityville HS:
Christian Smiley: Amityville
Justin Thornton: Amityville
Jordan Cardenas: Bay Shore
J.J Desiderio: Harborfields
Sammy Gerstman: Hills East
Shawn Piazza: William Floyd
Shy Lucas: Amityville
Roderick Jones II: SJB
Naevono Williams: Southampton
Sam Verdone: Sayville
Derek Reed: Southampton
Mike Gitz: Commack
Isaiah Brown: Newfield
Clinton Efienda: SJB
Jacoby Brandly: SJB
Ryan Williams Jr: SJB
Nicholas Brown: Amityville
Derek Varlack: Hills East
Elijah Canady: Amityville
Jack Baron: Bayport-Blue Point
Nick Watts: Northport
Dakari Thomas: St. Anthony's
Jalyke Gaines: St. Anthony's
Malachi Moore: Copiague
Colin Strohm: Comsewogue
The third round of Nassau County tryouts is still scheduled for Monday 9/27 at
the Island Garden.
LOCAL PLAYER TRYOUTS
NEW LI NETS COACH
The Long Island Nets, the NBA G League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, have named Adam Caporn their new head. STORY
NO ALL-STAR GAME
My sincere apologies to this past season's senior class and to all of Long Island's varsity basketball players. You all deserve recognition for the courage and determination you showed this past year, and for the terrific games and incredible performances you gave us during this most difficult of seasons. Unfortunately, we had hoped to cap off your efforts with the triumphant return of the Long Island post season All-Star Game, but we were unable to bring all of the different high school organizations together in such a short time and our plans fell through. We want everyone to know that we will do everything we can to bring the Long Island basketball community together and make the Long Island All-Star Game happen in 2022 and every year thereafter. We have an exciting format planned. It will be a doubleheader featuring players from public, catholic, and private schools, with our best sophomores and freshmen in the opener and our top juniors and seniors in the nightcap. Both games will be livestreamed, and in depth coverage will be provided by Long Island Basketball.com and its affiliates. Next year!
LONG ISLAND AT NYC INVITATIONAL
Two Long Islanders - Long Island Freshman of the Year Preston Edmead from Deer Park and All-Long Island Sophomore Jayden Reid from LuHi, infiltrated the new NYC Invitational, which features top NYC based AAU programs, and were recognized as two of the best players in the event. STORY
NEW YORK STATES LEADING SCORERS
Four Long Islanders in the Top 12!
2021 BASKETBALL
HONOR ROLL
Long Island's Best Basketball players
BASKETBALL AWARDS POSTPONED!
It's been more difficult this year to gather the information we need to make informed decisions on our award winners, so we will announce our revised awards schedule once our research is complete!
WHY LUHI FELT IMPACT OF PANDEMIC MORE THAN MOST
NY HS MADNESS
Team NOPO Advances
I have to confess I never imagined Long Island teams would be left so shorthanded from conflicts with football, but just about every one of our teams has had to play without key players because of it. One that thrived despite being shorthanded was Team NOPO, who advanced to the Sweet 16 with two wins over the weekend. 3/21
NSCHSAA SEMIFINALS
St. Mary's 61
Holy Trinity 57
It's been an up and down season for the Gaels, but they are peaking at the right moment, staging a second half rally to defeat the #1 seeded Titans and advance to the NSCHSAA Championship Game against #2 seed Chaminade. BOX SCORE
Chaminade 64
Kellenberg 47
The Flyers ended Kellenberg's Cinderella run, leading wire to wire and pulling away in the 3rd quarter to earn a spot in Monday's Championship Game.
BOX SCORE NEWSDAY STORY
NSCHSAA PLAYOFFS
Kellenberg 57
St. Dominic 46
There is a degree of parity in this season's NSCHSAA that we haven't seen recently, so Kellenberg will go into their quarterfinal matchup with St. Anthony's with a real chance to advance!
NYC WILL HAVE
BASKETBALL SEASON!
A season has been approved, playing outdoors starting in May!
MADNESS STRIKES
The New York High School Madness Tournament, which was heroically put together at the last minute by Nick Tsikitas and his staff and will give some closure to the 2020-21 high school basketball season, got underway last night with preliminary round games. As you can imagine, seeding the tournament was next to impossible. New York City teams had no season at all, other regions played abbreviated seasons, and there were no intersectional games whatsoever. In addition, some teams that entered initially had to drop out for COVID reasons and those holes quickly plugged, so some good teams found themselves in the preliminary round that normally would have been seeded higher, and others found themselves scheduled against other very good teams in early round games that probably should have occurred later in the tournament. Thankfully, everyone is going into this understanding how difficult a task it was to throw together and is just happy to be playing. Should be a great event! 3/17
Note: Although all the teams are made up of players from one high school, some of them are playing under different team names to make it clear that since the 20-21 HS basketball season is technically over, they are not officially representing their school.
COLLEGE NEWS
Hofstra's Isaac Kante averaged 10.1 rebounds per game this season, tied for 14th in NCAA D1, and fellow Pride member Caleb Burgess finished 21st in assists with 5.6 per game!
Holy Trinity's Mike Sixsmith, who is a freshman at Sacred Heart, ended up leading NCAA D1 in 3pt FG% at 54%!
LuHi's Andre Curbelo, a freshman at Illinois, has been named Big 10 6th Man of The Year!
Rick Pitino now has his 9th seeded Iona team in the MAAC Championship game!
Brentwood's Lester Quinones has started every game for Memphis and had a 20 point game against Tulane, a 7 assist game against Mississippi Valley Sate, and a 15 rebound game against UCF in a win that put the Tigers into the AAC Semifinals.
Baldwin's Jared Rhoden led the way with 19 points and 16 rebounds in Seton Hall's win over St. John's in the Big East Quarterfinals.
St. Doms grad Rick Pitino is doing his magic at Iona. The Gaels went on a 16-0 run to upset top seed Siena and advance to the MAAC Semifinals
Elmont's KC Ndefo LEADS ALL OF NCAA D1, averaging 3.7 blocked shots per game, and Hall Elisias, from Valley Stream South, ranks 14th in the country, averaging 2.6 blocks per game. Ndefo was named All-MAAC and MAAC Defensive Player of the Year while Elisias broke his school's single game rebounding record with 20 rebounds! Let's not forget Stony Brook's Mouhamadou Gueye! He is the America East Defensive Player Of The Year, and at 3.1 blocks per game, ranks 4th nationally!
Brentwood's Michael Almonacy scored 32 points to lead Appalachian State to the Sun Belt Conference title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament! Mike earned tournament MVP honors!
LuHi's Tyson Etienne, who is at Wichita State, was AAC Player Of The Year!
Holy Trinity's Cam Wynter was named All-CAA First Team, and another former Titan, Mike Sixsmith, NEC Rookie of the year! Deer Park's Malik Edmead joined Sixsmith on the NEC All-Rookie team!
Chaminade's Michael O'Connell earned Pac 10 Freshman of the Week honors and is averaging 7 points a game. He had a career high 20 points against USC, and an 8 assist game against Oregon State.
LuHi's Zed Key, who is also a freshman - at Ohio State, is averaging 6 points and 4 rebounds in only 12 minutes per game. He had a 14 point game against Nebraska and a 10 rebound game against Cleveland State. LuHi's Andre Curbelo, a freshman at Illinois, is averaging 9 points and 4 assists in just 20 minutes per game. He had a career high 19 points and 7 assists against Ohio State and former teammate Zed Key!
GAMES OF 3/4/21
#12 Chaminade 55
St. Anthony's 43
Chaminade is playing games at a frantic pace to make up for the ones they had to postpone, and after losing their first game since they resumed their season - another classic NSCHSAA cliffhanger with 8th ranked Holy Trinity, they bounced back against a surging St. Anthony's team that was fresh off back to back wins over Holy Trinity and St. Mary's. BOX SCORE 3/4
SUFFOLK PLAYOFFS
#6 Center Moriches 76 Shoreham-WR 61
As tough an opponent as Class A SWR was, Center Moriches is in a class by itself among small school programs, racking up an incredible 94-18 record over the last 5 seasons and winning 4 straight Long Island Class B Championships before this season ending conquest of SWR for their 5th straight title. 2/28 BOX SCORE
#13 Northport 45
Ward Melville 32
A hard fought defensive battle through three quarters, and the Tigers pulled away down the stretch. 2/27
#3 Hills West 88
Mt. Sinai 67
To be honest, nobody gave Mt. Sinai much of a chance in this semifinal between the #1 and #4 seeds, but they proved to be a worthy opponent and battled the Colts right through halftime before 3rd ranked West pulled away. 2/27 BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/26/21
St. Anthony's 45 Holy Trinity 36
It looked like a rebuilding year for the Friars, but that all changed with an impressive win over the 7th ranked Titans. FULL GAME
Chaminade 78 #11 St. Mary's 57
It was tight early on, but the Flyers led pretty much wire to wire and pulled away down the stretch for a very impressive win. FULL GAME
East Meadow 71 Herricks 37
The very good Jets only got to play 4 games this season (Herricks only 2!), but they will be one of the favorites next season. BOX SCORE
ESM 62 Smithtown East 61
Eastport-South Manor is another team that didn’t get a chance to show what it could do. Once they came out of quarantine, the undefeated Sharks (3-0) couldn’t schedule enough games against strong teams to earn a playoff seed.
GARSIDE ALL-TIME SCORER!
Kings Park's Jack Garside became Kings Park's all-time leading scorer!
GAMES OF 2/23/21
#6 Elmont 70 Sewanhaka 49
Future Hall Of Fame coach George Holub has retired, but new coach Ryan Straub is picking up right where he left off, with the Spartans improving to 6-0 after a dominating win over their rivals.
Holy Trinity 71 St. Mary's 61
At this point, it looks like theses two teams are headed for a championship game showdown, but there are still games to be played and fresh out of quarantine Chaminade may have something to say about that. BOX SCORE
Chaminade 62 St. Dominic 47
First game back and very impressive!
Deer Park 74 Comsewogue 68
It should be noted that Comsewogue has its best team in years, and given a full season to come together, would have been a serious contender in Class A this season. BOX SCORE
Carey 62 Jericho 26
Cary cannot be ignored! Now 6-0 after pounding the Jayhawks. BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/19/21
Hills West 69 Kings Park 62
Possibly Suffolk’s two best Class A teams, the Colts looked pretty tough, leading most of the way and holding off the Kingsmen. BOX SCORE
Wyandanch 71 Southampton 63
The Warriors can play! They gave CM a good fight, and now hand Southampton their first loss. BOX SCORE
Locust Valley 56 Wantagh 50
Both teams look tough, but Locust Valley hands the Warriors their first loss.
LWA 62 Knox 58
The private schools are having a tough time finding opponents, so LWA has filled its schedule with PSAA teams, and they got off to a good start against a solid Knox team. BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/15/21
Northport 55 Central Islip 40
Northport is one of the teams to beat this season, and we’ve seen nothing to dispute that so far. But can they beat Brentwood? Robby Kennedy looks like he's ready for prime time, and he joins All-New York State guard Pat Healy and All-Long Island Sophomore forward Nick Watts. CI's Isiah Sween is finding out what its like to have the whole defense focusing on you and he'll have to make some adjustments. BOX SCORE
Amityville 50 Copiague 45
An old fashioned border war between two programs that have fought over players many times over the years, but Amityville’s Myles Goddard was the best player on the floor today, and he was the difference. Rising star Malachi Moore had 21 points for Copiague. BOX SCORE
C. Moriches 88 Malverne 60
A stunning result! These two team had an outstanding Long Island Championship Game last season, but it was CM that had the heavy graduation losses! BOX SCORE
GAMES OF 2/11/21
Uniondale 78 Hempstead 36
Newsday posted a great story on this game, and my hats off to them. Jo Jo played in some of my travel team tournaments starting when he was 8 or 9, and was unforgettable even then.
BOX SCORE NEWSDAY STORY
Plainview 68 Baldwin 58
You can probably count the number of league games Baldwin has lost over the years on one hand, so hats off to a talented group at Plainview for doing something few teams have done. Make sure you anticipate that Baldwin will get better with every game, because they will. BOX SCORE
Hills West 79 Harborfields 59
The Colts were already one of the favorites in Suffolk Class A coming into the season, and they added an All-Long Island freshman to the roster, so watch out! BOX SCORE
Center Moriches 67 SWR 60
Very interesting! Is SWR better than we anticipated, or CM not as good? Right now, I’m going with SWR. They were a .500 team last season and have important pieces back. BOX SCORE
East Meadow 65 Hicksville 34
East Meadow looks like it might be a contender. BOX SCORE
FALL LEAGUES
MTG Back2School Invitational
Hills East 41 John Bowne 39
Derek Varlack game-winning shot.
Hills East 50 Campus Magnet 39
Adam Kirschenblatt 4 threes
Chaminade 50 Van City 38
David DeBusschere 17pts, Mac Kelly 14
Premier Varsity Fall Leaguge
Bay Shore 67 Huntington 62
Smithtown West 73 Comsewogue 59
Deer Park 68 Southampton 56
Pierson 57 Newfield 49
Huntington 49 SWR 25
Kings Park 64 Northport 37
Comsewogue 62 Huntington 45
Smithtown West 66 Cougars 61
Pierson 50 SWR 31
Cougars 78 Stony Brook 53
Newfield 49 SWR 27
Smithtown West 63 Mt. Sinai 41
Pierson 57 Smithtown Christian 31
NY TOP 100 PLAYER SHOWCASE @ LUHI
All-Stars from Long Island Schools
Preston Edmead, Deer Park
Darius Green, Upper Room
CJ Edwards, Stony Brook
Lou Hutchinson, LuHi
James Johns, Luhi
Jackson Koroll, LuHi
Findley Sheridan, LuHi
Nick Watts, Northport
Ryan Williams, SJB
NCAA ELIGIBIILTY REQUIREMETS YOU MUST MEET EACH YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL.
MID-MAJORS TO WATCH
Rick Pitino's Iona Gaels are on the list! COLLEGE HOOPS TODAY STORY
PRE-SEASON TOURNAMENTS
Our good friends at Premier Basketball are running a preseason tournament at the nice SUSA facility in Hauppauge the weekend of Nov 5th-7th. It is for both boys and girls teams in grades 4th through varsity! REGISTER
PSAL TEAMS CANCELLING
NON-LEAGUE GAMES
NYC PSAL teams are pulling out of scheduled games and events outside of the city limits as a COVID precaution, and it's possible, though not yet decided, that CHSAA teams will too. If your team finds itself needing a game, go to our MATCHMAKER service to post what you're looking for or to find new opponents. New ones are added in daily.
KNICKS OPEN WEDNESDAY VS CELTICS AT MSG!
Game Time 7:30 PM. TV: ESPN
NETS OPEN TUESDAY AT DEFENDING CHAMPION MILWAUKE!
Game Time 7:30 PM. TV: TNT
NBA POWER RANKINGS
Week 1: Bucks, Nets and Suns start season on top, STORY
LATEST KNICKS NEWS
Kemba Walker is ready for his ‘big moment’ with Knicks STORY
Knicks Sign Samanic to Two-Way STORY
Knicks Waive Knight, Simms and M.J. Walker STORY
Rokas Jokubaitis, Knicks draft-and-stash guard with Barcelona, scored 22 points in 18 minutes (ACB) today after going 5-5 for 12 points in his Euroleague debut. STORY
LATEST NETS NEWS
Kevin Durant speaks to the media as they prepare for the season opener. STORY
Nets Bring Options With Expanded Depth In Frontcourt STORY
KNICKS PREVIEW
New York Knicks Season Preview: Can Kemba Walker Push This Team To 50 Wins? STORY
Knicks season preview NY Post STORY
NETS PREVIEW
Nets Season Preview NY Post STORY
Nets Season Preview: Do-Or-Die For Durant And Harden, But Will Irving Derail It All? STORY
Nets Vist Bucks and 76ers To Open Season STORY
KNICKS AT THE BUZZER
Randle's jumper completed the comeback and 4-0 preseason.
NETS FINISH PRESEASON
Brooklyn concluded the preseason at 3-1 with a 107-101 win over the Timberwolves. STORY
THE KYRIE IRVING SITUATION
Everything to know, including fallout with Nets, New York mandate, NBA rules. STORY
KNICKS/NETS OPEN PRESEASON
Good preseason openers for both the Knicks and Nets. The Knicks were missing both of their big men - Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel - but still demolished the Pacers. New additions Kemba Walker and 
Evan Fournier both looked good, and if Walker and Derrick Rose can both stay healthy, Barrett, Quickley and Toppin continue to develop, and Robinson and Noel take command in the lane, they could surprise everybody once again and be much better than last season. The Nets and Lakers played mind games with each other, holding out their super-star players, and that took most of the fun out of a great matchup, with the Nets reserves dominating. They play Milwaukee tonight! Long Island's NBA players, Tobias Harris and Danny Green, who both play for the 76ers, didn't do anything in the first of back to back games against the Raptors, but in game 2, Harris had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 24 minutes, and Green had 11 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes.
Evan Fournier both looked good, and if Walker and Derrick Rose can both stay healthy, Barrett, Quickley and Toppin continue to develop, and Robinson and Noel take command in the lane, they could surprise everybody once again and be much better than last season. The Nets and Lakers played mind games with each other, holding out their super-star players, and that took most of the fun out of a great matchup, with the Nets reserves dominating. They play Milwaukee tonight! Long Island's NBA players, Tobias Harris and Danny Green, who both play for the 76ers, didn't do anything in the first of back to back games against the Raptors, but in game 2, Harris had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 24 minutes, and Green had 11 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes.
ALZHEIMERS ROSTERS
The following players have been chosen to represent their counties at the 2021 Alzheimer's All-Star Basketball Classic:
NASSAU COUNTY BOYS
Manu Alford/Holy Trinity
Zaire Baines/Portledge
Greg Cantwell/Chaminade
Kamren Denhart/Sewanhaka
Jaeden Hutchinson/St. Mary's
Malachy Kelly/Chaminade
Bret Michaels/Long Beach
Richard Neysmith/Holy Trinity
Jacob Oka/Baldwin
Jamir Stewart/Baldwin
Leonidas Vlogianitis/Garden City
Ryan Weiss/Hewlett
ALTERNATES
Jimmy O'Connell/Wheatley
Gregory Kenny/Kellenberg
SUFFOLK COUNTY BOYS
Jack Baron/Bayport Blue Point
Elijah Canady/Amityville
Clinton Efinda/St. John the Baptist
Mike Gitz/Commack
Roderick Jones II/St. John the Baptist
Xavier Lewis/Hills East
Malachi Moore/Copiague
Derek Reed/Southampton
Dakari Thomas/St. Anthony
Derek Varlack/Hills East
Nick Watts/Northport
Ryan Williams/St. John the Baptist
ALTERNATES
Jalyke Gaines/St. Anthony
Colin Strohm/Comsewogue
NASSAU COUNTY GIRLS
Olivia Agunzo/Division
Meghan Anderson/Our Lady of Mercy
Paris Clark/LuHi
Alisa Blalock/St. Mary’s
Taryn Barbot/St. Mary’s
Taylor Barbot/St. Mary’s
Lindsay Hogan/Locust Valley
Dallysshya Moreno/Baldwin
Samantha Shea/Our Lady of Mercy
Emma Von Essen/LuHi
Abby Walters/Mineola
Riley Weiss/Hewlett
ALTERNATES
Payton Dulin/Baldwin
Tyasia Williams/Uniondale
SUFFOLK COUNTY GIRLS
Sophia Bica/Northport
Casey Campo/Mount Sinai
Ava Darvassy/St. Anthony
Iris Hoffman/Walt Whitman
Lola Idir/Port Jefferson
Olivia Jones/Brentwood
Kylie Kuhn/Deer Park
Ashley Pavan/Sachem East
Emily Plachta/Huntington
Taydra Simpson/Longwood
Alyssa Studdert/Hills East
Sophia Yearwood/Northport
ALTERNATES
Jade Dockery/West Babylon
Zatiannah Townsend/Brentwood
The games will be played Sunday, October 24th at Amityville HS
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
10/16/1968
Americans Tommie Smith (gold 19.83 WR) and John Carlos (bronze) famously give the Black Power salute on the 200m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics to protest racism and injustice against African-Americans
NEW PRESEASON
HS SHOWCASE A BIG HIT
Excellent new events are steadily being added to the Long Island basketball calendar, and the new Elite 48 Preseason High School Showcase that took place this past weekend at the beautiful new Fieldhouse in Massapequa is one of them. Good teams and big name players from Long Island and all over the region converged on the three court facility and the action was fast and furious, and with some eye opening results. Go to our SCOREBOARD for all of the scores.
The other great new events that have been recently added to the calendar include the Rivalries Never Die Alumni Tournament, the New York Holiday Invitational Showcase, and starting next spring, it will be the long awaited return of the Long Island All-Star Game. They will all bring attention to Long Island, and the Elite 48 is the perfect addition to that list. Welcome Lucky Brannon and Manhattan Sports and thanks for bringing a great event to Long Island!
TEAM LONG ISLAND
2021 NYC Big Time CHAMPIONS
