Thursday, October 1, 2026
The moment Elmont and Sewanhaka had taken care of their first-round opponents in the Nassau Class A boys’ basketball playoffs, setting up a matchup between the intra-district rivals, the overused adage that alludes to the difficulty of beating a team three times arose. The Spartans had handled the Indians twice in regular-season contests.
While the words certainly build up the drama and give the underdog reason to believe it can pull off the improbable, the favorite will emerge victorious far more often than not.
For No. 10 Sewanhaka (14-7), the third time was no charm. Sophomore Victor Olawoye scored a career-high 14 points, and senior point guard Travis Robinson-Morgan added 13 to lead No. 2 Elmont to a convincing 58-29 win on Feb. 18. Senior Sam Williams led the Indians with 10 points.
The Spartans, who improved to 18-3, advanced to the semifinal round for the third consecutive season. They were set to meet No. 3 Valley Stream North (17-3) in the semis on Wednesday night, after press time, for the right to play for the Nassau Class A championship this Saturday at 7 p.m. at LIU -Post. Sophomore K.C. Ndefo scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Jalen Burgess had 10 points and 10 boards.
Sewanhaka head coach Jay Allen gave Elmont all the props. “We just couldn’t get anything going, but Elmont had a lot to with it,” Allen said. “They did an excellent job of taking away what we do well. We wanted to work the ball inside. Defensively, we did a nice job of containing Robinson-Morgan and Yasir Lawrence, but we couldn’t get in any kind of offensive flow.”
Any chance of pulling off a major upset came to an end quickly. Playing intense defense, controlling the boards, and getting balanced scoring, the Spartans ran out to a 29-12 lead at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half. The Indians needed their perimeter game to kick into gear if they wanted to make a comeback, but the shots just wouldn’t fall, and Elmont extended its lead to 41-19 after three quarters.
Elmont head coach George Holub expects the matchup with North to be a good one. “We’re playing as well as I could expect at this time,” Holub said. “We made an effort to keep the score down by playing tough defense. We can’t give up 70 points and expect to win. North has the big guy inside, and we don’t have a lot of size. Hopefully, we can limit their ability to get to the basket. It should be a great game.”
Sewanhaka had its best season in ages. Williams, who averaged 14.8 points per game, earned All-County honors. Elijah Tracey, Korey McLaurin, and Kamoy Silvera all received All-Conference recognition.
“I’m very proud of what we accomplished,” Allen said. “The program has taken a major step in the right direction. We have the respect of other teams and coaches, and have raised expectations. These guys should be proud that they’re the ones who got it started.”
