Thursday, October 1, 2026
No elite scorer, no problem.
Farmingdale boys basketball’s offense has taken a balanced-attack approach through its first 13 games and the Dalers are 10-3 overall, including 5-2 in Conference AAA-1.
Farmingdale sits in second place in the league, one game behind Plainview-JFK and tied with Hempstead and Uniondale.
“This is probably the first time in my 24 years of coaching that we have such a balance and parity on a team that’s willing to give up good shots for great shots and try to get someone else better,” Farmingdale head coach Jim Pastier said. “They might have a good shot that in the past people take, but now all of a sudden they’re moving the ball around to get someone else a touch to create an easier basket or a better look for the team.”
Six players average more than five points per game: Seniors Dylan Coleman (10.3), Brendan LoFaro (9.5), Ben Mear (8.1), Mateo Morales (7.8), Jace Ebanks (5.3), and junior Amari Powell (6.8.)
In the Dalers’ 49-41 win over Massapequa last Friday night, Morales recorded 15 points after briefly leaving the game with an open wound on his eye and blood covering his face while fighting for a loose ball.
“He’s a complete warrior,” Pastier said. “The crowd went nuts as soon as he came running out. It was like the old Willis Reed at the Garden.”
Farmingdale received a surge of three-pointers from Mear, as he knocked down four from behind the arc in the win. In a back-and-forth affair that had the Dalers leading Massapequa 34-30 going into the fourth quarter, free throws and Mear’s three-point shooting lifted Farmingdale to the victory.
“We went to the free-throw line towards the end of the game,” Pastier said. “To extend games, we talk about how important free throws are. They’re either extending your lead in the game or helping you catch up. Towards the end of the game, they had to foul and we had to get defensive stops and maintain possessions.”
After a 61-50 loss against first-place Plainview-JFK Jan. 10, Farmingdale beat Syosset 59-57 Jan. 13 in overtime. Plainview-JFK led the Dalers 19-5 after the first frame and 29-16 entering the break. That 13-point deficit was nearly erased, as Farmingdale made it 41-39 before the engine ran out of gas in the fourth. Syosset got out to an early 22-8 lead in the first quarter and led 29-23 going into halftime. Back-to-back slow starts with two different outcomes in the end.
“It took them a little while to click in, but once they settled in, those past two games being down what they were down to fight back, it’s a credit to them,” Pastier said. “We talked about it with them and stressed it with them.”
The difference was made against Massapequa, considering the Dalers never ended a quarter trailing. The conference is as tight as it gets, with Massapequa and Syosset sitting just two games out behind Farmingdale and co.
“I think any team can beat anybody in our conference,” Pastier said. “All the games are close. Every game is a new game, a new entity, a new battle, and for 32 minutes, nothing else matters.”
The Dalers are back in action this Friday at Hicksville at 5 p.m.
