59.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Elmont denied L.I. championship
Spartans fall in 2 OTs
The most accomplished team in Elmont boys’ basketball history saw its dream of a trip upstate come to end with a 79-75 double-overtime loss to Half Hollow Hills West in the Long Island championship game at Stony Brook University last Sunday. Senior Tavon Sledge scored a LI. title-game record 46 points to lead the Colts.
Senior forward Anthony Elechi, who led the Spartans with 17 points and 13 rebounds, gave Hills West credit. “We played a good game, but they made the plays down the stretch,” Elechi said. “It was a great season. Winning the first county championship ever for Elmont is special, but we wanted to go a little further.”
With the score tied at 75, freshman Tristan Brown drew a charge on Sledge with 1:01 to go in the second overtime. The Spartans worked the ball around the perimeter before dumping the ball inside to Greg Senat, who finished with 12 points. The 6-foot-7 junior’s baby hook went in and out, and Hills West’s Chris Kaimis was fouled on the rebound.
Kaimis sank both free throws to give the Colts a 77-75 lead with 30.7 seconds to play. Looking to send the game into a third overtime, Elmont’s Dillon Williams (10 points) beat his man off the dribble, but was stripped of the ball. Sledge hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to put the game away.
A few things were established from the get-go; Elmont would give the Colts all they could handle, and Hills West would be the beneficiary of the officials’ whistles. The Colts went 23-for-37 from the line, while the Spartans only attempted 12 free throws and had three players foul out.
Elmont was seemingly in foul trouble when its bus crossed the county line. With the Iowa State-bound Sledge getting superstar treatment from the referees, the Spartans had four starters in foul trouble midway through the second quarter. Sledge went 12-for-18 from the line.
The Elmont bench, led by senior guard Devin Guerre (11 points, four rebounds), did a remarkable job to allow the Spartans to go to the locker room with the score tied at 31.
