High-flying Owls continue surge

Lynbrook holds Lawrence to eight second-half points in 10th win

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Three days after Lynbrook rallied from an 11-point deficit for an eye-opening victory at Floral Park, the youthful and surging Owls used their depth, confidence and teamwork to overcome another early hole on the way to beating visiting Lawrence last Saturday, 50-35, in a Nassau Conference A-III boys’ basketball matchup.

Junior Rob Sitonio scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and junior Jon Baltes added nine points, including back-to-back treys late in the second quarter to put the put hosts ahead for good, propelling Lynbrook to its sixth straight win and 10th in 11 games. The Golden Tornadoes (0-11) got a dozen points apiece from junior Roy Vazana and sophomore Keaton Goldsby, but managed just eight points in the second half.

“There’s definitely a good vibe around here,” Owls head coach Jamie Adams said. “The kids are proud to wear their basketball shirts to school and our stands are packed for games. It’s something that hasn’t been here in a while, so it’s fun and exciting.”

Lynbrook, which celebrated just one conference win last season and only two the previous campaign, upped its record to 4-1 in A-III. It scored the first eight points but saw pesky Lawrence explode for 15 of the next 16 and trailed 15-9 after Goldsby’s two free throws less than a minute into the second quarter.

“We have a bad habit of falling behind early, but I was thrilled with how we responded today,” Lawrence head coach Lou Robinson said. “The big problem with trailing by double digits early is we have to spend so much energy fighting back, eventually we run out of gas.”

The Golden Tornadoes, who won 15 games last season, including an 88-87 decision at Lynbrook, led last Saturday by as many as seven in the first half — 20-13 — before Sitonio and junior Steven Hendrickson jolted the Owls’ offense into gear.

Hendrickson, who scored all eight of his points in the second quarter, got a 19-7 spurt going with a short jumper. He and Sitonio combined to score 10 straight Lynbrook points, and after the Golden Tornadoes regained the lead on a pair of Goldsby free throws it was Baltes who got into the act with a pair of momentum-changing shots from behind the arc. The Owls led 32-27 at halftime after Hendrickson’s second trey.

Shooting woes and turnovers plagued Lawrence throughout the second half. Goldsby’s three-pointer was the team’s lone field goal in the third quarter and the margin swelled to 11 heading into the fourth. “We can’t use the excuse that we’re inexperienced because we’re 11 games in,” Robinson said. “I like that the effort is there and we’ll keep plugging away.”

While the Golden Tornadoes aim to get into the win column, Lynbrook isn’t about to get too far ahead of itself. Even after sophomore Rylan Blondo’s 18 points sparked a 58-54 upset of Floral Park.

“We’re just focusing on one game at a time,” Adams explained. “Probably the best thing about this season is the competition we have in practice and the leadership of Sitonio and [Nick] Tuzzio.”