Dominant start for North Shore

There’s been a nine-game winning streak. There’s been the continued excellence of two-Time All-County forward Vasilis Triantafyllou. There’s been the emergence of senior big man Jack Molesky, who scored 26 points in a recent victory when Triantafyllou was out with an ankle injury. 

All is going smoothly again for the North Shore boys’ basketball team, off to an 11-3 start, including 5-1 in Conference A7. 

 “Our start as a team, we all know we had pretty high expectations this year,’’ said Triantafyllou, the 6-5 senior of Greek heritage averaging 21 per game. “We have a great group of guys who work hard together and play for one another. We know we want to go deep in the playoffs.’’

However, there is another similarity between the 2023-24 Vikings and the 2022-23 edition. Last season’s successful squad got upended by neighbor, Friends Academy, the private school in Locust Valley. And Friends Academy still stands as a roadblock, handing North Shore its lone conference loss on Jan. 11 by 20 points. “They’ve been a thorn in our side,’’ North Shore head coach Ryan Berglin said. 

“The Maroon’’ feel the Feb. 4 rematch could tell a different tale. In the initial encounter, North Shore led by 2 points at halftime with the game was close until the fourth quarter. Molesky, averaging 9 points per game, missed the contest with an injury. 

“I think we can beat them the second time,’’ Triantafyllou said. “I have no doubt in my mind. It shows we lost by 20 but it was a much closer game than the score shows.’’

Known to his teammates as “V”, he is closing in on 1,000 career points. Berglin believes “V” added a new wrinkle. He’s  averaging 2.5 assists and 8.5 rebounds. 

“The big thing he changed this year is he improved on his playmaking,’’ Berglin said. “Now they send a second guy and he’s hitting the open guy – which is awesome.  He can go inside on a smaller kid and go outside and shoot it against a bigger guy or drive by him.’’

Intangibles is an area in which “The Greek Freak II’ feels he’s excelled. “I’ve improved my shooting and my attitude,’’ said Triantafyllou, who is eyeing a handful of Division I and Division III schools, including University of Chicago and Molloy. “I’ve worked hard every day since last season ended. I love the game of basketball, take it seriously and want to do great things with the sport. I’ve been more aggressive throughout the game and not let things get in my head.’’ 

The Sea Cliff/Glen Head school has more depth than last season with four players averaging between 7 and 9 points. Danny Lenney has been North Shore’s “Draymond Green,’’ says Berglin. 

“Not in terms of punching people but his stat line will be 4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 deflections,’’ Berglin said. “He fills the stat sheet with all the little things and anchors the defense. Everyone’s in the right spot because of him. He tells everyone where to go.’’

Point guard Lucas Schimsky is key to pushing the pace when North Shore is at its best in a transition offense. Schimsky is avenging 9 points and 3 assists. 

Senior Matt D’Aversa is the starting shooting guard and scoring 9 a game while Damon Merazzi is thriving as Sixth Man, putting up 8 points a game. 

Despite losing its top two defenders from 2022-23 in Nick LaRosa and Ryan Freund, the Vikings haven’t missed a beat. The goal is a top-4 seed and home playoff game in the first round for the second straight season. The Vikings also have a new assistant coach in Carlos Santana, a former professional player overseas who has numerous college basketball contacts. 

“Comparing it to last year, it’s two very different teams,’’ “V” said. “We have other guys stepping up. We could go further. Maybe we lost a little on the defensive side but on the offensive side we gained a lot more.’’