Calhoun sinks Long Beach

The performances and leadership qualities of Calhoun’s Matt Kalfas, Sean DiPaola and Tommy Bello has carried over from one court to another and is a big reason why the Colts are in the early driver’s seat in Nassau Conference A-1 boys’ basketball.

With Bello, its starting center, nursing an injury suffered the previous week, Kalfas poured in 23 points and DiPaola added 21 to lead Calhoun to a 62-53 victory over visiting Long Beach on Jan. 4. All three seniors were major pieces to the Colts’ winning their second volleyball county championship in three years a few months ago.

“Those three kids are coming off a very long volleyball season and for the last three weeks they’ve been coming on strong,” head coach Jay Kreutzberger said after Calhoun (6-5 overall, 3-0 in A-1) won for the sixth time in its last seven games. “They’ve been scoring and they’ve been leaders,” he added. “Now we might have to learn to adapt without Tommy for a while, but I really like where this team is at.”

Senior Jack Shields (15 points) and juniors Michael Main (13) and Blake Solice-Mitchell (10) all scored in double figures for Long Beach (4-5 overall), which slipped to 1-3 in conference games.

“The effort is always there, but we need to be more consistent,” Marines head coach Scott Martin said. “Tonight we couldn’t hit free throws and that was probably the difference in the final score. In the second half they switched away from zone and limited our three-point shots, which is something we do well. And those two kids [Kalfas and DiPaola] were tough to stop.”

Kalfas scored 18 first-half points, including a dozen in the opening quarter, to set the tone for the hosts, who were also without sophomore starting guard Riley Bhunut due to illness. Senior Adam Gardner’s three-pointer just before halftime gave Calhoun a 36-31 lead at intermission.

“We might have been down two starters but we had other kids step up,” said Kreutzberger, noting the play of senior PJ Kakalos (7 points) and juniors Joey Goodman and Josh Edouard.

Long Beach scored 21 first-half points from behind the arc, with Shields nailing three long-distance shots and Main and senior Sebastian Muzikar two apiece, which led to Kreutzberger adjusting his defensive approach. “We have excellent versatility on defense,” he said.

The Marines had just one trey in the second half and that came from Shields with just over two minutes remaining after the Colts built their largest lead at 59-43. Long Beach never led after halftime but got within 38-37 early in the third quarter before Calhoun scored seven straight.

“These guys might be the team to beat in the conference,” Martin said of Calhoun. “We’ll see them down the road in our gym. At 1-3 in the conference, we’ve got a hole to dig out of.”

Said Kreutzberger: “We played a very difficult non-league schedule against Syosset, Harborfields, North Shore and Floral Park and started 0-4. Those are the kind of games that make a team stronger in the long run.”