Southampton beats Malverne for L.I. title

Malverne ran into a buzz saw in the Long Island Class B boys’ basketball championship game held at LIU-Post on March 10.

The Mules, fresh off their first Nassau County title in four seasons, were within striking distance of Southampton midway through the third quarter before the relentless Mariners stepped on the gas and pulled away for a 78-48 victory. Junior guard Israel Johnson poured in 28 points and added six assists and four steals to lead Southampton to its second straight L.I. crown. He scored 10 points, just off his season average, in the third.

“He creates everything for us,” Mariners head coach Herm Lamison said. “He’s definitely our catalyst.”

After Malverne, which trailed by 10 after Johnson’s two free throws to begin the second half, got within 40-34 on a Warren Jones jumper, Johnson went into overdrive. He converted a nifty three-point play that brought Southampton fans to their feet, answered another Jones bucket with a dish to senior Zach Cummings (18 points) for a trey, and converted two more foul shots to make it 48-36.

Johnson added a trey later in the quarter, and in the blink of an eye the Mules (10-10) were trailing by 17 heading into the fourth. “We have nothing to be ashamed of, Southampton’s an excellent team,” Malverne assistant coach Walter Aksionoff said. “They beat us at the foul line and the three-point line.”

Senior Christopher Hackett paced the Mules with 11 points. Jones added 10, and seniors Kevin Young and Kazeem Martelly chipped in eight apiece. Southampton (22-2) got 10 points from sophomore Nasies Fulford. Senior Isaiah Johnson, the team’s leading scorer (18.5 ppg) and Israel’s older brother, was held to eight.

Fulford gave Southampton its biggest lead at 65-41 midway through the fourth on a driving layup.

Malverne, which boasted eight seniors for head coach Darrol Lopez, never led. The Johnsons combined for 10 first-quarter points and the Mariners built an 18-9 advantage. The Mules responded by scoring nine of the next 12 to get back in the game. Martelly and Young, who controlled the boards, both scored from inside the paint, Jones from just outside of it, and Hackett from behind the arc to cut the margin to 21-18.

Chad Pike, a sophomore, then sparked Southampton off the bench by scoring all seven of his points in the latter part of the second quarter. The difference was 36-28 at halftime.

“It was a good season,” Aksionoff said. “A lot of people didn’t think we’d win Nassau.”