Section XI Conference Champions

<p> Sunday afternoon finished a truly remarkable season in difficult times. A credit to all the athletic directors, coaches, and players for completing a shortened season. The idea that we can report championships for teams is something that a lot of people didn’t feel could happen. </p> <p><strong>League  1/2    Conference 1  Champion       Northport high school</strong></p> <p><strong>Northport </strong>defeated <strong>Brentwood </strong>58-56. Yes, it was an upset but not a surprise. Northport is a well-coached very talented program for many years. Another strong defense-minded club, Northport really guards you and takes you out of your offense.  Always loaded with good shooters and smart players they know how to win games. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1047751" first="Pat" last="Healy"] </strong>led Northport as he usually does. The senior had 19 points to lead them. The future <strong>Hobart college </strong>player displayed his excellent mid-range jumper. He is able to get it off with hands in his face. <strong>Ryan McNaughton </strong>chipped in with 14 points and a perfect  8-8 from the foul line. <strong>Robby Kennedy </strong>had 2 of his 10 points off a turnover with 32 seconds to go. He is a good on-the-ball defender with a good handle and court vision. Brentwood was led by <strong>Georgetown recruit [player_tooltip player_id="1132413" first="Jordan" last="Riley"] </strong>who scored 26 points. But he earned every single one of them, as Northport made it tough all day.</p> <p><strong>League  3/4.    Conference 2  Champion.      Half Hollow Hills East</strong></p> <p>Hats off to Coach Basel and his Hills East squad for understanding that working hard on the defensive end means easy baskets for you and your team.  Using a pressure defense with many double teams over the weekend they were able to turn over their opponents and get easy transition baskets. <strong>Leisaan Hibbert,</strong> used his football instincts to get deflections. He is extremely athletic and strong to the hoop. <strong>Louis Mathurin </strong>is a load in the post, strong-bodied with good quickness he scores at the rim and gets rebounds in traffic. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1136572" first="Xavier" last="Lewis"] </strong>was very good with ball pressure and got deflections and errand passes leading to easy baskets. He also seems to hit that key three or pull up jumper at crucial times. But today’s game belonged to <strong>Derek Varlack </strong>(15 points)the long guard was able to get into the lane and score. He showed many different ways of scoring off the bounce. Time after time he created scoring chances for himself or a teammate.  He was also a big part with Leisaan and Xavier in pressure and creating turnovers. All this led Half Hollow Hills East to a victory over Smithtown West. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1045781" first="Patrick" last="Burke"] </strong>led all scorers with 24. He did it in a variety of ways around the rim. At 6”6, he has a nice handle and uses his long frame to score.<strong> Tyler Anderson </strong>has a very quick and explosive first step and gets into the lane. Burke is a class 2023 and Anderson class of 2022 tells us we will see Smithown West again in postseason runs.</p> <p><strong>League  7/8     Conference 4 Champion       Center Moriches</strong></p> <p>Center Moriches beat Shoreham Wading River 76-61 in winning the conference 4 championship. <strong>Dayrien Franklin </strong>the lightning-quick guard was able to explode to the hoop and also drained a couple of threes. He is a guard very strong getting into the lane. Can beat his opponent off the dribble and score. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1047852" first="Jaden" last="Kealey"] </strong>is usually the recipient of those drives. Jaden had another double-double with 14 points and rebounds. <strong>Jordan Falco </strong>hit  2 threes (12points) and pulled down 10 rebounds. Jordan is a really good standstill shooter from behind the line. <strong>C J Brackett</strong> a tough defender, a slasher type player who gets to the rim. He can also drill the three. <strong>SWR </strong>was led by <strong>Joey Dwyer and Thomas Bell </strong>they combined for 47 of their teams 61 points. Joey Dwyer showed off his range hitting 2 threes. He has good range and can start runs on his own with his shotmaking ability. Thomas Bell who will be attending St. Joseph’s college Long Island to play basketball next year is a flat-out scorer. He scores in bunches and makes big shots. He can get into the lane and score.</p> <p><strong>League 5/6  Conference 3 Champion  Half Hollow Hills West</strong></p> <p>Half Hollow Hills West defeated  Kings Park to win Conference 3.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>