Thursday, October 1, 2026
The resilience displayed by Seaford boys basketball throughout the regular season paid off in the playoffs.
The Vikings, who opened the season with four straight losses by a combined 111 points, rebounded in a big way for a 9-4 record in Conference VII culminating in a run to the Class A semifinals.
While the journey ended with a 93-44 loss to second-seeded Floral Park in the county semis last Saturday at Farmingdale State College, the 2025-26 Seaford season will be defined by how the team battled through a grueling early schedule to be one of the final high school teams playing.
“They learned how to deal with adversity very early in the season when Manhasset put up 99 points against us and they played as hard in the first quarter as they did in the fourth,” said second-year Seaford head coach Jay Lynch referring to a 99-47 loss to Manhasset on Dec. 10.
“When the other team goes on a run they don't panic, they stick together, and they just mold and mesh every game,” he added.
Seaford’s perseverance this season was highlighted in a 76-71 quarterfinal win at No. 3 West Hempstead in which the Vikings orchestrated a late spurt forcing some key turnovers after trailing late in the game. The Vikings received a balanced scoring effort led by 23 points from senior forward Brian Falk. Senior guards Dylan Alt and Tate Gatto also stepped up big with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Lynch said the team bonding over the classic movie Beettlejuice proved key during a critical late timeout when the game was in the balance in keeping the players poised.
“They said Beetlejuice three times and then hey go, coach, ‘we're going to the show,” said Lynch referring to one of Michael Keaton’s signature scenes in the 1988 film. “How much more relaxed can you be with three minutes remaining.”
The sixth-seeded Vikings advanced to the quarterfinal stage with a convincing 69-45 first round playoff victory against Valley Stream South on Feb. 18 featuring four players in double figures led by 24 from Falk. Seaford also received 16 points from Alt, 14 by Gatto and 11 from senior point guard Michael Spinella.
The defense was largely anchored by senior center Brian Hennesy, who also chipped in offensively with eight points in the West Hempstead quarterfinal triumph.
“He's like a general on the floor on the defensive end,” said Lynch of the 6-3 Hennesy. “The whole complexion of the game would change when he came out of the game.”
The turnaround season for Seaford was spurred by a four-game winning streak in early January after a 2-6 start culminating in a 58-52 victory at Locust Valley on Jan. 12. The stretch included a 66-64 win at eventual league champion Malverne, which marked the Mules’ lone regular season conference setback.
“They are a great group of young men,” Lynch said. “They stuck together and molded and meshed every game.”
