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The Nassau County Basketball Coaches Association
and the Nassau PAL put this terrific event together every year
to honor Nassau’s best seniors, and the Class Of 2018
put on quite a show!
GAME 1
In the opening game, a three pointer by Matt Journakos, a key member of Class A finalist Floral Park, back to back baskets by South Side’s Ryan O'Shea, and a drive from the top by Lynbrook’s Steve Hendrickson's gave the White Jerseys an 11 point lead with 8:59 to play in the first half, but Red's Sky Mosley, from Class C Champion East Rockaway, stopped the run with a right wing three and then Great Neck South’s Sheldon Henry knocked down a three pointer just before the buzzer to cut it to 43-36 at the half. Mosley's two free throws made it a 5 point game as the second half got underway, but the White squad answered with a run, topped off by an Elliot Galarza right wing three, good for a 50-38 lead, and then Galarza's second three pointer, this one from behind the left elbow, gave White their biggest lead at 55-40. Galarza hails from Division and had only 9 three pointers all season. Oceanside star Anthorn Garrett responded with a drive, then Mosley and Jayden Boyd from Sewanhaka both added fast break baskets and Connor Shanahan from Port Washington knocked down a stepback elbow jumper and suddenly Red was back in it, trailing by 5 with 12:03 left, but the Red run stalled until just under the 7 minute mark, when Henry's drive and a Garrett 3 pointer reignited it, and they took a 65-63 lead on Garrett's fast break basket with 5:40 to play. Malverne’s Michael James answered, hitting a fall-away jumper to tie it, but Garrett drilled a right baseline three and Jake Buchar from East Meadow rebounded and scored to put Red up by 5 with 4:52 remaining. White bounced back to tie it on another James jumper and a three pointer from the right side by Syosset’s Harris Baskin, but after Boyd and Journakos exchanged threes, Mosley scored on a putback and Garrett on a fast break basket to put Red up by 3 with 1:50 left. Mosley had a big coast to coast basket as the clock dipped under the one minute mark, and then Henry iced Red's 81-77 win with two free throws.
GAME 2
In Game Two, Matt Benavides from Valley Stream South got things started with a left wing three, John Verdi from Island Trees added two free throws and Small School Player of the Year Andrew DeSantis from Class A Champion Garden City scored on a drive through traffic to make it 7-zip Black. Another left wing three by Benavides extended the lead to 15-6, still early in the first half, and then his third three, this one from behind the left elbow, made it a 10 point game with 14:41 to play, but when Valley Stream North’s Taliq Abdul-Rahim subbed in, he began scoring almost at will, and although Black answered at first, his 5th straight basket cut it to 24-19. New Hyde Park’s Nick Anthony responded with back to back baskets to rebuild the Black team's lead, but Abdul-Rahim struck again, and then Calhoun’s Jalen Rosemond rebounded and scored and Oyster Bay’s Devon Marmorale did the same and the lead was down to 3. Isaiah Goodwin from Lawrence kept it going, cutting it to 33-31 with a left wing three at the 7:01 mark of the half, a putback dunk by Shamari Griffith from Valley Stream North tied it and Oyster Bay’s Anthony Reilly drilled a deep left wing three to put Gold up 38-37, but their momentum stalled and the teams went back and forth from there, trading baskets and the lead down to the 1:28 mark, when back to back baskets by Rosemond, including a fast break dunk, pushed the Gold lead to 5 before Massapequa’s Kevin Voigt scored on the break to cut it to 56-53 at the half. Abdul-Rahim picked up where he left, scoring to open the second half, Reilly’s putback put Gold up 60-55, and then Griffith’s drive from the top and Abdul-Rahim’s fast break basket extended the lead to 8. Reilly kept it going with a putback that made it 73-62 with just under 16 minutes to play and then Devon Marmorale’s coast to coast basket made it 81-68 and the Gold team was threatening to break away, but Voigt rebounded and scored, drawing a foul and converting the three point play to keep it close and Verdi’s fast break basket brought the lead back down to single digits. The Gold defense stiffened and Marmorale’s running hook shot sparked a run, with Henry’s big three pointer making it 101-83 Gold as the clock dipped under the 10 minute mark, but Black immediately got back into it on back to back threes by DeSantis, cutting it to 107-95 with 6:28 to play, and then Messina’s putback and fast break baskets by DeSantis and Anthony brought Black within 6. Once again, Gold held the line - Abdul-Rahim scored on the break and Griffith drained a right wing three and the lead was back to 11 with 3:42 left, but Black was not done. They rallied to cut it to 6 on Anthony’s three pointer from the top and a drive from the top by GNN’s Daniel Sharifan with 1:41 remaining, but would get no closer. 124-116 final.
CLASS OF 2018 ALL-STARS
Galarza, Elliot - Division
Buchar, Jake - East Meadow
Johnson, Tshyne - East Meadow
Mosley, Sky - East Rockaway
Jounakos, Matt - Floral Park
Henry, Sheldon - Great Neck South
Hendrickson, Steve - Lynbrook
James, Michael - Malverne
Garrett, Anthorn - Oceanside
Shanahan, Conor - Port Washington
Boyd, Jayden - Sewanhaka
Whitely, Jazier - Sewanhaka
O’Shea, Ryan - South Side
Trencheny, Matthew - South Side
Baskin, Harris - Syosset
Mark, Michael - Syosset
Stanco, Michael - Syosset
Hakimian, Julien - Great Neck North
Cylin, Nasim - Baldwin
Carlson, Steven - Bellmore JFK
Rosemond, Jalen - Calhoun
DeSantis, Andrew - Garden City
McNiff, Kevin - Garden City
Sharifian, Daniel - Great Neck North
Verdi, John - Island Trees
Godwin, Isaiah - Lawrence
Voigt, Kevin - Massapequa
Anthony, Nick - NHP
Messina, Thomas - NHP
DeBlasio, Elia - Oyster Bay
Marmorale, Devon - Oyster Bay
Reilly, Anthony - Oyster Bay
Abdul-Rahim, Taliq - VSN
Benavides, Matt - VSS
Long Island's Home Court Advantage
CLASS OF 2018
CLASS OF 2018
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NCBCA
