Thursday, October 1, 2026
Following an eight-day layoff for midterm exams, the Wantagh boys basketball team showed little rust with a 62-44 win against Mineola last Saturday that strongly positioned it for a playoff push.
The Warriors improved to 5-3 in Conference A-6 with the home victory with five games remaining. The win helped maintain momentum prior to the break when Wantagh snapped a two-game losing streak with a 51-43 triumph at Valley Stream South on Jan. 17 to avenge a 33- point defeat in the teams’ first meeting in December.
“I think we are in a pretty good spot now,” fourth-year Wantagh head coach Matt Simeone said. “I like where we are situated and we match up pretty well against everybody, but the conference is tough.”
Last Saturday's win, which came nearly six weeks after a 53-43 win at Mineola, was paced by 18 points and 15 rebounds from senior center Cole Spinelli. Senior guard Oliver Iacobazzi also had a big offensive day with 15 points while junior Joe Nicholson also reached double figures with 10.
The Warriors entered the late January hiatus on a high note at Valley Stream South thanks to a balanced scoring effort led by 12 points from senior Kevin Gutfleisch and 11 by Spinelli. The key road victory came three days after a heartbreaking 56-54 loss at Valley Stream North decided on a tie-breaking layup with three seconds left.
“That was that one was circled on the schedule because we let them get the best of us the first time around,” said Simeone of a 65-32 loss in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 11.
Wantagh’s offense features multiple scoring options with Gutfleisch, Nicholson, Iacobazzi. Spinelli and Devin Paccione all emerging at times throughout the season as the leading scorer making it challenging for opposing teams to strategize on who to key in on. Freshman Vinny Napolitano has also been a solid contributor.
Simeone entered the season with a heavy focus on defense hoping his team could strive to reclaim its status from two years ago as the county’s top defensive team when Wantagh reached the county semifinals. The Warriors, who play a straight-up man-to-man-defense, entered the week having held opponents to under 50 points in eight games and are neck and neck with Plainedge as the top defensive team in the conference.
“We're getting pretty close to where we want to be defensively,” Simeone said. “When we’re winning that is what is propelling us.”
Wantagh begins its February schedule with a Saturday afternoon visit to Plainedge, who the Warriors edged 43-37 on Dec. 20 led by 15 points from Gutfleisch. The Warriors then face a tough road game at Floral Park on Feb. 8 before closing the season at home on Feb. 11 against Valley Stream North for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
“We need to keep playing well defensively and keep doing what we are doing,” Simeone said. “We are going one game at a time and are not looking ahead.”
