HAUPPAUGE, NY – The SUSA Sports Academy was ground zero for the Premier Basketball Fall League championship. Up until Sunday's chip, the Amityville Warriors had gone undefeated (8 – 0) during pool play. Among their wins included Brentwood, Half Hollow Hills East and Kings Park in the semifinal round.
A testament to the Warriors dominance, ironically came in defeat as it would take a village of all-star players from Eastern Suffolk County to finally grind the Amityville machine to a halt. L.I. Hoops, coached by Center Moriches Head Coach Nick Thomas, had the right stuff to knock off Amityville, 110 – 102, in a high scoring affair.
“We knew they only had two predominate ballhandlers,” said Coach Thomas. “We felt our pressure could wear them down.” In the second half, Thomas said L.I. Hoops capitalized on Warriors turnovers to pull off the championship victory.
L.I. Hoops jumped out front 12 – 3 in the first minutes of the game paced by baskets from Elijah Wingfield (Southampton HS ’18) and Ahkee Anderson (Greenport HS ’21). Amityville mounted a comeback as Julius Goddard ’18 and Josh Serrano ‘18 responded along with Jason Robinson ’18.
With 11:10 remaining in the opening half, Serrano knotted the game at 15. In what ended up being an impressive 21 – 3 Warriors run, capped off by Miles Goddard ‘21, Amityville surged ahead by 6 points at the 9:41 mark.
Amityville kept the pressure on as Travis Angus ‘18 banged inside but late in the half, L.I. Hoops unleashed an aerial assault with their secret weapon, 5’10" sniper Jake Gaudiello (Westhampton Beach HS ’18). His two trifectas which sandwiched a trey by Anderson propelled L.I. Hoops back into the driver’s seat with a 47 -43 half time lead.
War broke out in the second half with both teams piling on the points. L.I. Hoops got production from Sean Bratwaite (Center Moriches HS ’19) and Gaudiello while Amityville countered with Robinson and Serrano getting it done. The lead changed hands three times but with 12:06 still left to play the game was tied at 58 apiece. From that point on, it was downhill for the Warriors as the momentum winds shifted to Eastern Suffolk County.
Micha Snowden (Southampton HS ’19) was a beast inside for L.I. Hoops who accumulated a significant rebounding advantage over Amityville. In addition, turnovers, defensive lapses and the acquisition of fouls began to plague the Warriors. Each time, Amityville tried to make a run, L.I. Hoops perimeter game shut them down. The Suffolk County collective netted a total of 12 three-pointers throughout the match with seven of them produced by Gaudiello.
The Warriors did receive some late perimeter baskets from Eddie Calderon ‘18 but it was too little too late. Four minutes remained in regulation and L.I. Hoops lead grew to 11 points. Using clock management and 'strategery', Amityville head coach Gordon Thomas skillfully chopped his team’s deficit down to 5-points, but they could get no closer.
Gaudiello led L.I. Hoops with 26 points with Anderson and Bratwaite contributing 17 points and 14 points respectively. Serrano was the high man for Amityville with 26 points.
