Falcons soar to conference perch

Already in the driver’s seat in Nassau Conference A-III, Valley Stream South’s boys’ basketball team played with a full lineup for the first time all season last Friday when 6-foot-7 sophomore center Hall Elisias made his debut in a 68-51 victory over visiting Glen Cove.

Elisias, who suffered a broken leg during AAU action in November, made an immediate impact with eight points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots as the Falcons upped their record to 7-1 in conference play and 9-1 overall. But the evening belonged to senior point guard Dana King, who poured in 30 points to become the program’s all-time scoring leader with 924 — surpassing a longstanding mark held by 1965 graduate Rich Lobell.

“The scoring record has been around almost 50 years,” South coach Matt Johnsen said. “Dana’s just a natural scorer. He can shoot from the outside and he’s quick to the basket. It’s a great accomplishment and he’s nipping on the heels of 1,000 with plenty of games remaining.”

Last Friday signaled the start of the second half of the conference schedule, and the Falcons found themselves trailing the last-place Big Red by eight points in the second quarter before “shots started dropping,” Johnsen said. South forged ahead 40-31 by halftime and stepped on the gas in the third quarter to lead by 19. Senior guard William Knight added 10 points and six assists.

The return of Elisias allowed Johnsen to move 6-5 senior Dimitri Badette to power forward, while senior Javon Grant will continue to see quality minutes after a strong run as a starting forward. “We’re not the same team opponents are going to see in the second half of the season,” Johnsen said. “Hall played really well on the defensive end tonight. There was one possession he had three blocks.”

The win was South’s third straight since a tough 81-68 overtime loss to Bethpage on Jan. 9. The Falcons led by as many as 19 in the first half and went ahead 66-64 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation on a trey by senior Andrew Labeck, but the Golden Eagles forced OT on Brett Tarnell’s putback with 0.6 seconds left and dominated the extra session after King and Badette fouled out.

“The loss was pretty devastating,” Johnsen said. “I think it humbled and angered us. We learned some lessons.”

The Falcons led 45-26 when the wheels started to come off. Bethpage switched from its 3-2 zone to a man-defense and closed up the middle, Johnsen said. The Golden Eagles also benefited from 36 free-throw attempts, compared to just four for South. Knight led the offense with 31, and Labeck had 17.

Johnsen said the Falcons are looking forward to the rematch on the road against Bethpage on Feb. 4, but added there’s a lot of work to be done between now and then. “We have some tough games before that one,” he noted.