By: TONY BELLISSIMO
Good things come in threes, too.
In a rematch of last year's Long Island Class B boys' basketball
championship game, Malverne rose to the occasion and held off a late charge
from Center Moriches to claim its third straight title, 75-68, on Tuesday
afternoon at SUNY-Old Westbury.
The Mules had four players score in double figures, including junior
Dashawn Moorer (20 points) who shot 6-for-6 from three-point range in the
first half to help build a 37-29 lead. Seniors Matthew Bates, Justin
Williams and Kadeem Bell added 19, 17, and 13 points, respectively.
Brothers Jonathan and Jordan Ward-Adams netted 26 points apiece for the Red Devils.
"Our size was too much for them," Malverne coach Darrol Lopez said.
"Matthew and Justin controlled the paint in the second half. I thought we
played well. It's great to defend the Long Island championship and now we've got one more hurdle to get upstate."
The Mules (11-10) will take on the Section I-Section IX winner on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Southeast Regional Class B final at Old Westbury. The winner advances to the state Final Four in Glens Falls.
Lady Mules fall to Wyandanch
Malverne saw its dreams of a trip upstate come to an end with a 68-52 to the Wyandanch Runnin' Lady Warriors in the Lond Island championship game played at the Pratt Athletic Center on the campus of C.W. Post on Tuesday evening.
Senior forward Alisha Steele scored 21 points and pulled down 25 rebounds to lead the Lady Mules. Wyandanch led by as many as much as 17 points and controlled the game throughout, however the Lady Mules made a second half run to cut the lead to 52-46 with 5:04 to play. Malverne's 23 turnovers were too much to overcome. "That was the difference in the game," Lady Mules coach Lisa Gress said. "You can't hand the ball over to a strong team like Wyandanch and expect to win." -ANDREW McCLURE
