By Chris Vaccaro
MaxPreps.com
Boys Basketball: Battle of the Best
Uniondale and Hempstead put together two of the best basketball teams on Long Island just about every year, so when the two powerhouses meet for a game, there are fireworks from every angle.
This year, Uniondale (9-4 overall) captured a Wednesday-night contest, 64-54. Uniondale and Hempstead are separated by less than two miles.
Hempstead, who took the first meeting of the season between the two teams, 44-37, drops to 11-3, but still should have a higher seed in the Nassau County playoffs.
Cliff Brown tallied 22 points and six steals for Uniondale, while Steven Preistley, who is headed for Siena next year, had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Boys Basketball Notebook
Wally Bachman is one of many coaches to reach a win plateau this year on Long Island. His Jericho team beat Floral Park, 72-55, earning him career win No. 300.Roosevelt is coming off an emotional football season, winning the Class IV Long Island title after almost not being able to play because the budget failed and there wasn't enough money for athletics. Therefore, anything that happened after that was gravy. The basketball team improved to 7-3 in Conference A-II when Jamal White hit a three-point shot with five seconds left to give the Rough Riders a 50-47 win over a struggling Bethpage (1-9) team.St. John the Baptist's Prentice Small is one of the best basketball players on Long Island, so it's no surprise whenever he comes up big in a game. He scored 33 points against St. Mary's in a 103-95, triple overtime win. Small scored 20 of his 33 points in the overtime periods.Bruno Rotellini threw the ball up with eight seconds left against Smithtown East hoping to win the game for Half Hollow Hills East. It worked. Hills East won, 65-63, and earned its third win of the year.
Girls Basketball Notebook
Greenport's Amanda Capone reached the 1,500-point plateau for her career this past week.Farmingdale's Christian Gugliero broke the 1,000-point mark against Herricks and now has 1,042.Floral Park head coach Greg Mayerfhofer recorded career win No. 350 with a 71-39 win over Sewanhaka.Copiague's Gabrielle Gibson scored 25 points against West Islip in a 73-53 win. She now has 1,004 career points. Long Island Lutheran's Emily Edwards-Bourdrez passed the 1,500-point plateau after she scored 14 points against Portledge in a 51-20 win.Murry Bergtraum beat North Babylon, 77-52, in the Nike Rose Classic at St. John the Baptist. The Bulldogs' Chanel Chisolm did not play because of an eye injury. Murry Bergtraum was led by Eugeneia McPherson, who scored 28 points and Shakeya Leary, who had 20.
Long Island Represented Well at Millrose Games
The 100th Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden were filled with fantastic sporting moments, and Long Island was represented very well.
Kellenberg's boys' 4x800-meter relay team beat Iona Prep with an 8 minute, 9.06 second run, while Uniondale's girls relay ream won the 4x400 race, setting a meet record of 3:56.14.
Ashley Hendrix, Ashlea McLaughlin, Vanessa Thompson and Heidi Paul were dominant, as usual, for Uniondale and came out on top. McLaughlin ran her best split of the season with 56 seconds on the second lap of the race.
Long Island Successful at Collegiate Invitational
St. Anthony's Walter Henning and Bellport's Brittany Sheffey continued their dominance at the Collegiate Invitational at the Armory in Manhattan.
Henning won the weight throw with an 84-foot toss, while Sheffey won the 1,000 meter race (2.51.09). Henning will attend North Carolina, while Sheffey is head to the University of Tennessee.
Boys' Bowling: SJB Wins CHSAA Title
St. John the Baptists captured the Catholic High School Athletic Association boys' bowling title, beating St. Anthony's, 1,038-1,025, 1,044-1,014, 1,133-1,1024. SJB's Mike Ninivaggi shot a 267 in the third game of a 718 series.
