The Long Island Challenge is a yearly event hosted by St. Dominic High School in Oyster Bay, NY. Starting at 11 am on Saturday morning the first of seven contest began with some of the top and/or up and coming public and Catholic teams in Long Island playing against each other. Here is a recap of four of the seven games.

The first match-up pit the rejuvenated St. Mary's Gaels win their season opener against the Jericho Jayhawks. In control for most of the game, the Gaels behind 20 point scoring from MVP junior guard, Chaz Morrish (including 2 three-pointers) and 15 points from Dante Agnew. Sophomore forward Chavaughn Lewis also showed promise. Junior guard Joe Gallo scored 14 points for Jericho in a 61-56 losing effort

Cougars Eat BullDogs

In the second game, Lindenhurst took on a spirited St. John the Baptist who jumped out in front 21-14 as junior guard,Khaleev Ginyard, was effective on offense with Josh Elbaum running the point..

Lindenhurst managed to rebound to tie the game at 23 led by 6-foot-3 junior guard Kamil Parzych but SJTB was up by 7 points at the half.

Senior forward Jonathan Brown and junior guard Justin Plata spearheaded a strong third quarter for SJTB as Lindenhurst got away from team play and were still down by 12 points with 5 minutes left in the third off a Ginyard 3-pointer. The Bulldogs could only manage to put a two-point dent into the Cougars lead as the Cougars team still led 51-41.

Facing an upset, Lindenhurst seemed to be rushing their execution, turning over the ball early in the quarter until 6-foot-2 junior forward Joe Vespier finally provided an offensive spark. An and-1 basket by Parzych and Lindenhurst was only down by 5 points with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter.

Both teams shot poorly down the stretch but a good rebounding on both ends of the court by Brown and foul shots by Elbaum put the Cougar back in front by 10 points with 48.8 seconds remaining. St. John the Baptist manage to hold on to pull out a win, 63-54.

Sophomore guard Joe Gibbons was the high scorer for the Cougars with 17 points with MVP Elbaum contributing 13 points. Parzych scored a game high 22 points in a losing.

The Westbury Green Dragons came out and totally overwhelmed Kellenberg Firebirds in the first half of the third game. Utilizing a balanced attack they are a team to be reckoned with. Led by MVP Paris Abrams, Westbury would go on the win, 69-57

Solid scoring the perimeter from 6-foot junior Abrams and the Westbury running game, kept the firebirds on their heals except for brief scoring from 6-foot-1 guard Ryan Kane. Kellenberg would as a result take a 11 point deficit into the locker room at the half.

Looking to press the issue in the second half the Firebirds did just that as Kane met the Westbury point guard Brian Hailey at half court and Kellenberg quickly moved the ball on offense. While the adjustment did make Kellenberg more competitive, missed buckets and the inability to contain Westbury's center, Lucens Victor would allow the Green Dragons to extend their lead to 17 points to start the final quarter.

Sloppy play ensued to start the final quarter until Abrams nailed one a quite a few 3-pointers. Sheldon Hagigal, a very physical guard, was difficult cover for Kellenberg as the lead increased to 22 points. It was an unorganized game down the stretch for both teams but Westbury easily pulled out the victory.

Paris Abrams would score a game high 26 points for Westbury including 5 threes. Junior Larmard Heron contributed 10 as did Victor. Kane was the high scorer for Kellenberg.

The Holy Trinity Titans, faced the Amittyville Warriors and were looking to set the track right after losing their season opener to Archbishop Molloy.

Titan's 5-foot-9 shooting guard Tyler Seidman was trying to counter the knock that he only scores in the first half of games as Trinity surged ahead by 8 points in the first quarter.

A second quarter offensive explosion by the Amittyville squad, led by 6-foot-0 sophomore guard, Darien Croft and 6-foot-4 senior forward Steve Medard. Outscoring the Titans 20-13, Holy Trinity would go into the locker room at the half only up by 1 point.

In the third quarter the Titans would go flat as the Warriors were on the warpath and ultimately took a 6 point lead into the final quarter.

Again, with Seidman scoring most of his 22 points in the first half, Croft's game high 27 points and Medard's 20 points would hand the Titans their second loss in as many games, 70-61.

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