Greg Friedman of Shoreham-Wading River takes the basket while Quincy defends Brigham of Southold in the season opener. (Image credit: Robert O’Rourk)
Shoreham-Wading River was a changed basketball team after halfway through the season opening game on Monday night. At the third game on Saturday in Westhampton Beach, the SWR will be a different team.
It must be. Then six of the wildcats who played for the SWR soccer team in the class IV finals in Long Island on Saturday can play on the pitch with their teammates.
“You will help a lot,” said coach Kevin Culhane.
Among those switching from rust to hardwood are Liam Leonard, an all spring season starter, Dylan Kiely, Joey Marchese, Max Barone and Ryan Farron, who all had time to help the Basketball Wildcats get the Suffolk County Conference IV final in the past to reach spring and go 7-2. “We have a lot of experience with these guys,” said Culhane.
So imagine how Culhane felt on Monday as he took a team with virtually no college experience to Southold High School for the season opener and they responded with a 47-36 win.
“It was a great first game for us and we could build on that,” he said.
What the Wildcats had to particularly like was the way they reacted after a 24-24 first half in which the teams were never more than five points apart. Alex Makarewicz pocketed two free throws and Greg Friedman fired a three-point shot from the left corner to break the tie. The SWR was at the start when Makarewicz and Max slammed Julian Dreier and Friedman at the end of the 3rd
“Our defense has strengthened,” said Anthony Osness, a 6-4 junior striker who made his first varsity start.
It was a quarter where Southold was limited to four points in 2v13 shooting.
“Two for 13th my lord,” said Southold trainer Lucas Grigonis.
Southold’s Gavin Fredricks blocks a shot by Greg Friedman from Shoreham-Wading River. (Image credit: Robert O’Rourk)
Southold, who had started the game so encouragingly, never recovered as the SWR took advantage of a breakout of four straight baskets at 47:30 for the biggest lead of the evening. Osness made a layup, Lucas Miranda Lopez floated off a drive, and then Jackson Mader and Miranda Lopez both knocked down three pointers from the left wing.
“We are good fighters, good team-mates and we also have some good shooters,” said Osness.
What happened to Southold’s game in the second half?
“I think halftime happened,” said Grigonis. “I think the tiredness set in a little and I think we were in a rhythm that ended half-time. I don’t think we started [the second half] with everybody.”
The offensive of both teams was balanced. Osness and Makarewicz both scored 10 points each and Mader added nine. Southolds Jack Sepenoski, Jaden Olsen and Karsten each had eight points.
The 6-3 Karsten and 6-4 Gavin Fredricks were factors in the paint job. Fredricks accumulated nine rebounds and blocked two shots, while Karsten grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
However, it was a nice block from Southold’s Robert Cooper that concerned the First Settlers. Cooper fell to the ground in pain after knocking off a shot down the baseline and left the game with an injured left ankle with 33.3 seconds to go in the first half.
Grigonis said it was the fourth ankle injury his team sustained this young season.
“Robbie is a great boy,” Grigonis said of the senior captain. “He’s a great team-mate. He’s a good leader and, uh, you know, we want him back asap.
Karsten said: “I thought we were very polished early on. But then unfortunately some of our starting XI members got injured and then tiredness set in in the second half. But they are all simple things that we can definitely work on. “
Southold, who went 3-4 last spring with a team that had an average of 1.3 years of college experience, is still in the works. “We don’t yet know who we are,” said Grigonis. “I’m about development and just seeing progress, and tonight was definitely a game to learn from.”
SWR shot 44.7% out of the field to 36.6% from Southold. The SWR hit 9 of 14 three-point attempts, including three by Mader. That helped the Wildcats, who only held three offensive rebounds and one outrebound at 25-18.
Culhane said he and assistant coach Tim Gilmore made some tweaks to their defense in the second half. “We showed a lot more patience on the offensive, too,” he said. “We moved the ball and of course when you hit shots you look good.”
It should look even better for the SWR when its six late arrivals are ready for game action.
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