Northport Pulls Away From Bay Shore
Eighth ranked Northport hasn't been dominant so far this season, winning by narrow margins, and although you couldn’t describe them as dominant in this game either, they pulled away in the second half for a convincing 57-41 victory over a good, young Bay Shore team to improve to 5-0 on the season. Bay Shore came ready to play, scoring first on a steal and fast break basket by Jose Rivera, then going up 9-4 on a left wing three by Angel Rivera and nice back to back low post moves by Jordan Drain. Northport responded decisively, scoring 10 straight points, first on on a steal, fast break basket, and free throw by Brennan Whelan, then three out of four free throws by Rory Schneider, and finally a touchdown pass, catch and basket, and then a nice cut and basket, both by Sean O’Shea, and they were up 14-9 with 1:30 to play in the opening quarter. Qendrim Shala broke the run with a drive and looping shot from the lane that cut it to 14-11, and that’s the way the first quarter ended. Kyree Sawyer’s three pointer from the right wing made it a 1 point game early in the second quarter, but a tip in by Lucas Jarrett and a right wing three pointer by O’Shea made it 20-14 Northport. Teddy Politidis got a nice pass underneath and scored, and then a steal and fast break basket by O’Shea bumped the Tiger lead to 26-16 with 2:35 to play in the half, but Angel Rivera’s jumper just before the buzzer cut it to 28-20 Northport at the break. Ryan Magnuson opened the second half with a left wing three pointer, good for an 11 point Tiger lead, and a fast break basket by O’Shea made it 33-20 Northport. A baseline drive and reverse layup by Bay Shore’s Lavon Montgomery kept it close, but Jarrett scored from underneath and O’Shea stole the ball again and scored and the Tiger lead was 17. Sawyer’s three pointer from the left wing cut it to 38-27, but Northport surged ahead again on Whelan’s back to back drives and a left wing three pointer by O’Shea that made it 46-27 as the third quarter wound down. Jose Rivera’s runner from the top cut the lead to 17 with three quarters complete. Schynder’s jumper got things going in the fourth quarter, and O’Shea’s steal and fast break basket gave the Tigers a 50-29 lead with 5:39 to play. A beautiful alley-oop dunk to Jarrett kept the momentum going and Bay Shore was done, with both sides subbing in reserves with 4 minutes remaining. O’Shea led all scorers with 21 points and Jarrett finished with 15 for Northport. Kyree Sawyer had 8 points for Bay Shore. BOX SCORE
LONG ISLAND'S HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
