Thursday, October 1, 2026
Valley Stream North set the bar high for the 2015-16 campaign after falling short of qualifying for last year’s Nassau Class A boys’ basketball playoffs due to a last-minute defeat to eventual repeat county champion Valley Stream South in the regular-season finale.
The Spartans, who brought back two double-digit scorers and promoted a pair of JV standouts, are clearly on a mission. They took over sole possession of first place in Nassau Conference A-III with a convincing 66-52 victory over visiting Glen Cove on Jan. 5.
Junior Noah Shy poured in a team-high 19 points, senior Joshua Dennis added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and junior Omar Baxter chipped in 13 points as North improved to 4-0 in conference games and 8-0 overall. Glen Cove got a game-high 23 points from Khalil Zachary.
“Everybody thought we were going to be an underdog team again after we missed the playoffs,” said Dennis, whose averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds. “But we’re showing everyone we can win,” he added. “We’ve been working really hard and I think we can go a long way.”
Dennis got the standing-room-only crowd buzzing early when he blew past a defender along the baseline and threw down a right-handed dunk for an 8-4 lead. “Josh has been playing phenomenal,” North head coach Dan Achatz said. “He’s our leader, but we’ve got five players on the court who can score. Everyone’s a threat and our balance makes us tough to defend.
“It seems like teams are starting off playing man defense against us and then go right into a zone,” he added. “So we’re really trying to get better in our zone offense and keep the transition game going so teams can’t set up their zone.”
The Spartans had at least four players score in every quarter against Glen Cove, which also entered the game undefeated in conference play. They led by five at the end of the first and put the Big Red in a large hole — 33-17 at halftime — with a 19-point outburst in the second. Shy and Dennis had three field goals apiece in the second, while Baxter got on the scoresheet with a trey.
In the second half, the Spartans led by as many as 22. Glen Cove called timeout after Shy’s basket made it 46-24 with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter and managed to cut the margin to 16 heading into the fourth. But the Spartans maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final quarter and took hold of the conference driver’s seat.
Senior Jordan James had nine points, and sophomore point guard Taliq Abdul-Rahim contributed seven points and three assists. Abdul-Rahim, a varsity newcomer along with Baxter, hit for 24 points to lead a thrilling 82-74 comeback victory over Lawrence on Dec. 22. The Spartans were down 16-0 after five minutes. A week earlier, Shy’s layup with 15 seconds left beat South, 62-61.
“We’ve knocked off teams we think we can be competitive with,” Achatz said. “We’re staying humble and taking it one game at a time.”
