Seahawks Fly Past Baymen

Kip Dallaris (no. 1) moves towards the basket during the second half of Monday’s Cold Spring Harbor boys basketball game against Oyster Bay. Long Islander News photos/Janee Law

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

 Cold Spring Harbor freshman Kip Dallaris kicked off Monday’s afternoon battle against Oyster Bay by sinking the first shot of the game.

But despite the early scoring spark, coach Jason Mercurio later said, the Seahawks didn’t have the best game plan and fell behind, 15-13, in the first quarter.

The Baymen “were really getting to the basket,” Mercurio said.

With a few adjustments, the Seahawks were able to slow the Oyster Bay offense, and provide just enough of their own, to claim an important 51-48 win and the top spot in Nassau’s ABC Conference.

“We switched up the defense a little bit, and that was pretty effective for us,” Mercurio said. “We played a lot more zone than we typically do, and it worked out pretty well.”

After the slow start in the first, the Seahawks took the lead come halftime, 24-21. They improved upon that lead in the third, jumping out to a 40-32 advantage.

But the Baymen began to close the gap, tying the game, 48-48, with less than two minutes left to play.

“We knew they were going to make the game really close,” Mercurio said. “But we were just trying to be poised and confident. We’ve been in a lot of close games this year, so that really helped us.”

With 20 seconds remaining, junior Thomas Milana executed the game winning shot from behind the three-point arc, securing the 51-48 victory for the Seahawks.

“He lives for moments like yesterday,” Mercurio said of Milana, who finished with three points. “He is unflappable in pressure situations. There’s nobody I’d rather have shoot that shot.”

This win improved the Seahawks to 7-0 in conference play.

“Winning this game was a huge deal for us,” Mercurio said, adding that Oyster Bay’s coach “does a really good job with his team; they’re cream of the crop.”

Cold Spring Harbor’s top threat on offense was junior captain Aidan Adomaites, who finished with 20 points, and also grabbed 17 rebounds.

Kip Dallaris was the only other Seahawk with double-digit points; he scored 11 points.

Rounding out the scoresheet were junior captain Nick Suter, with six points and eight rebounds; senior Steve Dallaris and junior Pete Licciardi with five points each; and junior captain Jack Vavassis added one point.

After deadline Wednesday, the Seahawks were slated to face Wheatley. They’re scheduled to travel to Seaford tomorrow for a slated 6:30 p.m. tip-off.