Thursday, October 1, 2026
In the thick of the regular season, the Long Beach boys basketball team is executing well, but it’s just a small sample of its true potential.
“Season’s been going really well,” said Marines head coach Scott Martin, citing a five-game win streak at the start of the season, and the squad’s current four-game streak. “We are in a good spot for a possible playoff spot, which we missed last year, so it looks promising,” he added.
To make it to the Nassau Class AA playoffs, Long Beach needs at least six wins over conference rivals. Currently, the Marines are just one away thanks to their 52-43 win over MacArthur last Friday. Jaron Burns led the offense with 18 points and 4 steals; flanking Burns were Zack Brymer’s 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and Andrew McCartney’s 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Burns and McCartney, both guards, typically lead the offense.
“Jaron is one of our top athletes, he’s doing a great job running transition and he is our leading rebounder too, averaging about six rebounds a game,” Martin said of Burns. “Andrew has been shooting the ball really well. He’s deadly from the outside and when [defenses] cover his three, he gets a little bit of room to make it to the basket,” he added of McCartney.
Last Friday was the second meeting this season between the two teams, the first this season on Dec. 13, where Long Beach won 67-58. For Martin, fixated on improving, no win is assured.
“[MacArthur is] a tough team! I just watched them against Jericho, who is our first place team in the league, and they played them hard for three quarters,” Martin reasoned. “They played us really hard last time. They’re really tough and well-coached, and they’ve definitely gotten better since the last time we’ve played them.”
There were technicalities involved too: size comparison, rebounding battle, the details on paper that have real-life implications, but Martin felt assured that if the team shot well and stayed aggressive on the glass, they’d have a shot of going into the locker room with a win.
Martin said he relies on Alex Michaels, a towering 6-foot-7 freshman, who typically sets up real estate down low.
“It took him a little while to get acclimated to playing varsity level basketball, but last game he played the most minutes he’s ever played and we’re going to try to put him [in] a little bit longer than the last time we played him,” Martin explained. “Just get a big body in the lane and help with the boards and defend the basket.”
Martin also lauded senior forward Colin Liguori, who has a penchant for doing damage in the paint. There’s also Nathan Hall and Gavin O’Grady, all defensively oriented players.
Now, with sights set on a playoff spot, there are no plans of hitting the breaks anytime soon.
Long Beach is 5-2 in conference games and 9-5 overall.
