Owls land much-needed win

Already down two starters due to injury, Lynbrook lost another key contributor during last Friday’s 45-35 Conference A-II boys’ basketball victory over Plainedge when senior center Zach Sobel left with a knee injury.

“It’s a like a revolving door,” Owls coach Chris Rube said. “We got a couple of guys back tonight, but now we have to hope Zach isn’t too hurt. He’s our tallest player and we count on him to rebound and score some points.”

Sobel had seven points and five rebounds in the much-needed win — Lynbrook’s first in four conference games and second overall in nine tries. Senior Kendall Bruton and junior Brandon Peresiper had 10 points apiece to lead the offense.

“It was a game we had to have,” Rube said. “Now that we’ve got a win under our belt, we can look to make a run. It’s been rough so far. We’ve had a rash of injuries and we haven’t played well.”

If the Owls are going to work their way up to earn one of the conference’s four playoff berths, they’ll need to do so without the services of one of their captains, Peter Lecce. The senior forward suffered a torn ACL in practice last week and will miss the remainder of the season. He posted a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in a loss to South Side on Jan. 7 and was averaging 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.

“It’ a devastating loss,” Rube said. “He’s a leader, a consistent scorer and the player we use to guard other teams’ top big man.”

Another starting forward, junior Johnny Emmerich, missed last Friday’s game with an ankle injury expected to keep him out this week against Hewlett and Bethpage. He should return when Lawrence visits Jan. 29 for a noon tipoff. Illness kept freshman guard Michael McVeigh out against Plainedge, although Rube welcomed back junior guard Rocco Scibelli and sophomore guard Matt Murphy. Scibelli fouled out in the third quarter but provided a jolt of energy, while Murphy hit for seven points.