Thursday, October 1, 2026
Senior guard Jake Mangio was back in action for Farmingdale’s boys’ basketball team Sunday evening, but the Dalers were unable to overcome the hot shooting of No. 1 seed Port Washington.
The Vikings advanced to their third straight county title game with a 54-43 victory in a Nassau Class AAA semifinal at Farmingdale State College. Port drained eight three-pointers and displayed the type of balance the Dalers showed Feb. 20 when they upset Hempstead in the quarterfinals without an injured Mangio.
Senior Cole Reyes had 17 points and senior Ryan Shanahan chipped in 11 to lead the Vikings, who seek their first county championship since 1947. They lost each of the past two county finals to Baldwin. This time they’ll face No. 2 East Meadow, looking for its first-ever Nassau crown, on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the same site.
Mangio, who rolled his left ankle in practice Feb. 19 and was in a walking boot when fifth-seeded Farmingdale’s defense smothered Hempstead in a 43-31 win the following day, returned and led all scorers with 20 points, matching his average for the season.
“We had an outstanding group of seniors who wanted to get here and go even further,” Dalers head coach Jim Pastier said. “You’ve got to give Port all the credit. The hit every open shot.”
Farmingdale (13-8), which allowed zero three-pointers in the quarterfinal win and only one first-half field goal, held Hempstead to a single point in the second quarter and led 20-8 at halftime. Senior Erik Kubelka and junior Ben Mear each had 10 points and senior JJ Collins and junior Mateo Morales each had eight.
“You find out what teams are about when adversity hits,” Pastier said. “Our defense was special against Hempstead and everyone chipped in offensively to pick up the slack with Jake out.”
The Dalers scored the first two baskets of the semis but quickly trailed Port 14-6 after the opening frame. The Vikings hit a trio of 3s in the quarter, including two by Reyes, and Pastier didn’t hesitate to bring Mangio off the bench.
“I was taking a wait-and-see approach,” Pastier said. “Jake wasn’t 100 percent, but you couldn’t tell with how well he played.”
Mangio scored 10 points in the second quarter and Collins added two baskets, but the Dalers only managed to cut the margin to 27-20 by halftime.
Moranles and Collins were both in foul trouble early in the third quarter and the Vikings stretched their lead to 46-30 entering the fourth. Junior Chase Kovar scored all eight of his points in the third and Port was on its way.
“It’s a hungry group that was pretty young the past two seasons when we lost in the finals,” Port Washington head coach Sean Dooley said. “No matter who we’re playing, we just want to have a great week of practice and play our best Saturday.”
