Malverne preps for stretch run

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The Malverne boys’ basketball team will likely find itself in the playoffs once again next month, but will the club return to the dominance that has been noticeably missing as it enters the stretch run.
The Mules are a more-than-respectable 5-2 in Conference BC play and 9-5 overall, but have yet to produce a three-game or more winning streak this season after stringing together 12 and eight game runs in each of the last two seasons. The team is showing signs of that lately with four wins in five games, with three of the wins coming on the road, including a 77-39 domination at Carle Place last Friday.
“We’re young,” associate coach Walter Aksionoff said of the revamped roster. “It takes time to click and the philosophy has always been that we’re playing to get better so that we’re ready for the playoffs.”
Malverne started the season 4-1 before dropping three of four to fall dangerously close to .500 before rebounding. The biggest heartbreaker of the group was a two-point loss to first-place Academy Charter on Jan. 7 despite getting a combined 45 points from its two top scorers, Michael Warren and Jayden Seraphin.
The Mules took a 63-60 lead that day on Warren’s 3-pointer with 58 seconds left, but fouls proved to be the team’s demise as Academy scored the final five points for the victory.

“It was nip-and-tuck [and] very exciting,” Aksionoff recalled. “The acoustics [in their gym] were so loud.”
Despite nursing a slight ankle injury that he suffered during his football season, Warren is averaging just under 18 points a game, which is almost two better than his 16.1 effort from last season. The star junior has enjoyed six games of at least 20 points and helped lead Malverne to a 79-76 victory against Portledge by collecting 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half.
“Mike has been playing terrifically for us,” said Aksionoff. “He’s our main man.”
Seraphin continues to impress in his senior season on both sides of the court. His 16.4 scoring average is more than double his output from 2018-19 (7.8) and has put forth multiple double-digit point games, including a career-high 24 points with 12 rebounds in the team’s first win over Carle Place on Dec. 17.
“If Jayden gets to where he’s supposed to be, always in the middle against the zone in the paint, he’s unstoppable,” Aksionoff said.
The Mules will get another crack against Academy (7-1, 6-0 Conference BC), this time at home this Saturday at noon. Aksionoff believes his team can bounce back with a victory against their new foes in another hotly-contested match as they continue their quest for a higher playoff seed.
“I think we can beat them,” he said. “It will be close and in our home court, that’s an advantage for us. We should have won that [first] game. What you’ll see is, when it comes to crunch time, Michael will have the ball in his hands and we’ll go from there.”