The Carl Place frog is jumping into the state for the first time in 20 years.
It was a very special year for the 15-8 Nassau County boys team. This recently surpassed Mattituck 53-36 in the LI Class B title and will win Woodlands High School in Westchester at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghampton on Saturday morning.
“Like this little family, we created bonds,” junior guard Ryan Leary told the Post. “We don't want to lose right now.”
The first good harbinger of their best season since 2005 came in late December when Leary notched his 1,000th career point.
“We tried to avoid that. We knew that once he got to that point we could just keep winning,” senior Matthew Babino told the Post.
But for him and Leary, this is not the first time in a major game.
Last November, they were on the state championship soccer team at Carl Place, taking over lessons on longevity.
“We didn't need to talk about it,” Babino said. “We knew we were going to keep our heads down and continue working for basketball.”
Sophomore Mario Dalessandro, who has played a leading role in Varsity, takes every moment ahead of Final Four.
“It's kind of crazy. I've never actually made the playoffs in any sport,” he said. “This is just my first experience playing basketball that makes sense.”
Save the day
There are quite a few days at Onetag High School.
The girls basketball team won their first A-Class Long Island title with a 54-30 victory at Mount Sinai on Monday.
It's coming hours after athletic manager Jennifer Keene helped revive the referee and longtime friend Joe Gaskin in Saturday's boys title game.
A venerable moment is never lost to anyone, but coach Stan Bujasic said the 22-2 team is focusing on the work in front of him.
“This isn't your usual week…it's all fun, but we're ready and now we're in good mode,” he told the Post.
“I think we're continuing to test the battles, win close games, beat good teams. I think we're getting better and better.”
