In a conference filled with parity, the Plainedge boys’ basketball team is in the thick of a playoff race after starting off the season with a 3-4 conference clip (9-6 overall.)
With five conference games left, Plainedge will need to go 3-2 over the stretch run to make a second straight playoff berth following its 59-52 loss to Floral Park last Friday.
Plainedge had beaten Floral Park in its first meeting for its season’s best win but couldn’t duplicate it despite being tied with four minutes left. “They got their shots to fall, we didn’t,’’ Plainedge star Owen Donnellan, who scored 18 points. “They made their free throws. We didn’t but we competed with them.’’
Still, Red Devils head coach John Mateyko is pleased to be in this position.
“We’re good enough to win the rest of our conference games but we also could go 2-3,’’ he said. “We’ve been consistent all year – played pretty good ball.’’
The central figure has been senior 6-footer Donnellan, having an All-County-type season in averaging 15 points. He was All-Conference last season when Donnellan made a huge jump. He’s a three-year starter but opted for a Division I lacrosse scholarship at Stony Brook.
“He’s very fast, gets up and down the court,’’ Mateyko said. “We play fast. It fits his style of play. He’s doing thing seniors do to help us win. Each year he got better and better.’’
“The fact I can shoot from the outside and am athletic enough to beat people off the drive makes me harder to drive,’’ said Donnellon, who averages 2.5 3-point makes per game.
From last season’s playoffs squad, Brian Keaveney, who is 6-5, may have made the biggest leap. He’s averaging 9 points at forward. “He has had a strong senior year,’’ Mateyko said. “He was a part-time player last season. He’s come on with double--figure games in rebounding and scoring.’’
Another surprise is senior point guard AJ Gulino, best known as an All-State soccer star with an LIU scholarship. He’s missed the last two basketball seasons because of injuries but has come on his senior year to average 9 points and offer stability at the point-guard slot.
“He’s real consistent, plays hard,’’ Mateyko said. “He’s probably one of the reasons we have nine wins. I expected things from him I didn’t know AJ would be that good.’’
Plainedge figured to have the tallest team in its history but was dealt a blow when 6-foot-5 Jackson Torres, a football player, decided not to come out. Plainedge’s football team reached the Conference IV championship game.
. “We thought he was going to play so it was disappointing for us,’’ Mateyko said.
Alec Anderson, who is 6-6, decided to play after the long football season during which he committed to John Hopkins. Anderson is coming up strong at center with averages of 2 blocked shots, 6 rebounds and 9 points.
Usually Plainedge, a football school, has a half-dozen player coming from the gridiron but this season they have just one. Still, a second straight playoff berth is very possible.
“I’m confident we can get there as long as we stay together as a team, plays as a team,’’ Donnellan said. “I just think our athleticism (is key). We all play other sports together so we got good chemistry.’’