Mules sniffing conference title

It’s no surprise Malverne sits atop the Nassau Conference BC boys’ basketball standings. The change from ability-based to enrollment-based scheduling in 2010-11 figured to make the Mules a heavy favorite for a league title. 

After last Friday’s 61-44 victory over Cold Spring Harbor, Malverne is 9-0 in conference play, 11-1 overall, however Malverne’s aspirations always go well beyond a league championship. Head coach Darrol Lopez and the 18-time county champion Mules are used to making a deep playoff run. Lopez hopes his team is set to take it to the next level.

“We’re not the typical Malverne team, but the expectations are the same,” Lopez said. “We’re coming along slowly. The nice thing is we have the ability to turn it up on defense. If we keep working hard on the defensive end, I feel we can score 10-15 more points per game on offense. We need to have some guys step up.”

Since falling to Elmont in the final of the annual Hank Williams Memorial Tournament, Malverne has rolled off seven consecutive wins, but it has done so in an uncharacteristic manner. The usually stingy Mules have given up 56 points per game, which has enabled teams to stay in games with Malverne.

The Mules have received solid play from forwards Alton Kelly, Anthony Moultre, and sophomore Andre Berry. In a 60-58 win over East Rockaway, Berry scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Moultre had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over Wheatley, and Kelly’s 13 points and 11 boards led the Mules to a hard-fought win over Locust Valley.

Malverne’s signature win was a 65-64 thriller over Friends Academy. Leading scorer Cory Alexander netted a game-high 27 points and dished out eight assists, but it was an unusual suspect who provided the dramatics. With seven seconds remaining and the Mules trailing by two points, Lopez summoned Cyrus Clarke from the bench. Clarke, who had hit just one career three-pointer, buried a three from the corner with 1.7 seconds on the clock to give Malverne the win.

Alexander, who leads the team with 16.7 points per game, scored a career-high 41 points (25 in the first half) to lead the Mules to an early-season win over Wheatley. Ronald Spencer has also been a solid contributor, putting up double figures in seven of the team’s victories. Xavier Bernard and Marc Jean, who recently took over the starting point guard job, have also provided some strong minutes.

Lopez would like to see more defensive pressure. “Everything is built off the effort we give on defense,” Lopez said. “We haven’t been as persistent as we need to be. We have too many lapses where we let teams back in games. We’ve worked primarily on defense in practice the past few weeks. Hopefully, we’ll start to force more turnovers and score in transition.”

Malverne travels to Carle Place this Friday to take on the Frogs at 7:30 p.m.