Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Malverne boys’ basketball team is off to another strong start this season, aiming to make the playoffs for the 53rd consecutive campaign.
The Mules are 5-2 overall and undefeated in Conference A7 play at 3-0, signaling the team is ready to make a run in the league.
The most dramatic victory so far came on Dec. 16, when Malverne edged Friends Academy 63-60 after trailing by seven points after the first quarter and by four entering the fourth before outscoring the Quakers 22-15 down the stretch to secure the win.
Junior Shane Lee led the charge with 15 points and eight assists, including two crucial free throws with seven seconds left that helped put the game away.
“We're in pretty good shape as far as our stamina and endurance because we do a lot of running, so I think we were a little stronger team at that point,” head coach Darrol Lopez said of the fourth-quarter surge.
Lopez credited the team’s strong start to steady preparation and summer work following a heartbreaking one-point loss to Wantagh in last year’s Class A quarterfinals.
“The key to this start is that the kids have been working hard from the summertime,” he explained. “Once we lost to Wantagh last year, we got right back into the gym, and we never stopped working out and playing the summer league, playing as many games as we can to get ready for the season.”
The Mules are averaging a conference-best 59 points a game and their offensive depth is already becoming evident. Lee is leading the team with a 12.9 scoring average and has reached double digits in five of the first seven games, including a 25-point effort at Carle Place on Dec. 8, while junior Andrew Innocent is scoring at an 8.7 clip, highlighted by a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double against Friends.
Senior guard Christopher McIntosh has contributed a little over nine points per game and had a standout 19-point, 12-rebound performance in a 59-52 win over Freeport on Dec. 28, and senior Julien Dumornay posted 19 points and 11 rebounds in the Mules’ first league game, a 76-60 victory over North Shore. Junior Jason Miletic has provided perimeter scoring with 14 3-pointers and an average of nine points per game.
The team received a boost from the return of junior guard Tristan Inswood, who came back from injury to record 17 points and 11 rebounds in a 60-38 win at Locust Valley on Dec. 20 and nine more points in the Freeport victory.
Lopez also reserved praise for senior captain Tyler Gordon for his shut-down defense.
“[He’s] a defensive stopper,” he said. “I put him usually on the best player. He's a little undersized, but he works extremely hard.”
Prior to the finals of the Hank Williams Memorial Tournament against Manhasset on Dec. 29, Malverne honored longtime assistant coach Walter Aksionoff, who retired after 22 years on the Mules’ bench. He received a plaque among other accolades.
“It was good,” Aksionoff said. “There was no crying. They kept the mic away from me so I wouldn't go into a lecture.”
