The CHSAA league on Long Island may not have the high end talent that they have had over the years but there is plenty of parody this season. Two teams itching to make a deep playoff run in the league are St. Dominic HS Bayhawks and St. John the Baptist HS Cougars. We know just a few days ago SJB clipped the Dom's at their place but we went to West Islip to see if the Cougars could sweep the season series.

The Cougars started the scoring with a bucket from 6’3” SG Jayden Miller ( St. John the Baptist HS, NY ‘25). The guard 5’11” PG Stevie Williams ( St. John the Baptist HS, NY ‘24) knocked down a deep three but 6’5” SG Brandon Torres (St. Dominic HS, NY ‘25) answered with a triple of his own.

SJB hit a free throw, 6’3” SG Jeremiah Carter ( St. John the Baptist HS, NY ‘25) buried a three. Williams scored inside again. Torres hit a three for the Dom's and Williams went 1/2 from the line. The Cougars hit a pair of free throws. The Dom's scored inside, but SJB missed. Bayhawk's finished a putback for two. Williams finished a layup, and the Dom's came right back for two but fouled SJB.

They went 1/2 from the line, Bayhawk's missed and the buzzer went off as SJB took a 17-12 lead. Carter converted a big and1 then Williams scored. Carter had a big slam after a Dom's miss and then the Bayhawk's hit a free throw. The Cougar's split a pair, and the Dom's scored. The teams traded hoops, SJB finished a layup and Miller hit a jumper.

The Dom's were able to score off an offensive rebound. Miller buried a deep three, 5’10” PG Melo Mojeed (St. Dominic HS, NY ‘26) scored. Carter answered with a tough bucket, and then SJB went 1/2 from the line after a big stop. Mojeed hit back-to-back shots, then Miller scored. The Dom's scored off a miss, and then Williams scored to end the half.

SJB was up by 11-points and got a bucket from Williams. Mojeed scored, then the Cougars missed. Mojeed converted a tough finish over a big, and then Torres converted an and1. Carter hit a shot, then Williams scored inside. Torres answered with a hoop then got fouled on the next possession but made both. Carter canned back-to-back triples. Mojeed calmly hit two free throws, and SJB turned it over. Torres drew a foul and made another two free throws.

Miller scored and got fouled but missed the free throw. Williams got a quick two after a Dom's miss, but Torres got them back-to-back tough buckets. SJB missed, Mojeed two free throws. Miller hit a late hoop, and the Cougars were able to go 1/2 from the line to end the third. The Bayhawk's scored to cut the lead to 8, but SJB answered to push the lead to 50–40. Torres hit a wild three while getting fouled and made the free throw. SJB answered with a hoop, Torres scored again and Mojeed added two more free throws. SJB hit a free throw, then Miller scored. Mojeed hit a free throw, then Carter hit a shot, but the Dom's answered with a hoop.

Dom's hit a free throw, and SJB took a wild shot with a Dom's miss. The Cougar's threw it away, but the Bayhawk's gave it right back. The Cougar's panicked with a quick shot, and the Dom's scored to cut the score to 3. SJB rushed a shot but got bailed out a little as Carter made 1/2 from the line. The Dom's finished an offensive rebound for 2. Bayhawk's fouled to get the foul count up. SJB inbounded again, and the Dom's didn’t foul.

The Cougars got the ball to their guy, killed the clock. Then finally, the Dom's realized they had to foul. Williams went 1/2 from the line pushing the lead back up to three and the Dom's called a timeout. They tried to run a play, but it took too long. They got a shot off with 3 seconds, and somehow retained possession when SJB couldn't secure the rebound.

The teams each took timeouts to try and set up their teams, as St. Dom's needed a three. They ran a screen for Torres, who got a clean look, but he missed it. St. John the Baptist won 69-66, sweeping the season series.

Carter and Williams finished with 21-points apiece. Miller added a big 15-points. Torres showed he can definitely play at the next level, finishing with a game high 25-points. Mojeed impressed as well with 17-points. These two teams may be a bit disappointed at where they are right now, but both clubs have talent. They can easily cause some havoc in the CHSAA playoffs.