Thursday, October 1, 2026
On the cusp of being fully healthy for the first time all season and coming off hard-fought losses to defending Nassau Class AAA champion Port Washington and reigning Long Island Class AA champion Baldwin in a span of three days, the best remedy for Valley Stream Central boys’ basketball last Friday night was a double dose of Vera.
Junior twins Jaiya and Julian Vera, that is.
Jaiya poured in a game-high 24 points and dished out 10 assists, Julian added 14 points, and senior center Nelson Frias, who missed the two aforementioned setbacks, added 13 as the Eagles soared past visiting Oceanside, 68-53, at Memorial Junior High.
“Every time we turned around there’s another injury, but we have to put our heads down and keep working,” head coach Mike Wimmer said after VSC improved to 6-4 overall (4-2 in Conference AA-II.) “This was a good win,” he added. “Oceanside has played a lot of teams close and just crushed East Meadow. We had a great start and shot the ball well.”
Seniors Josh Gamarra (19) and Louis Saglembeni (10) scored in double figures for the Sailors (4-7, 2-5), who also got 9 points from sophomore Jordan Simpson and 8 from sophomore Omar Olmeda Vasquez.
“We knew they were coming off two tough losses and we wanted to match their intensity to start the game,” Oceanside head coach Ed Risener said. “We did that early but in the second quarter the game got away from us. We had too many turnovers and didn’t match their physicality. That’s a team that can turn turnovers into points quickly and even though we battled back, it was too much to overcome.”
Central had 40 points at halftime after scoring 39 against Port Washington Jan. 10 and 47 against Baldwin Jan. 13.
“We just want to build off this win and keep going,” Jaiya Vera said. “We have to leave the losses behind and just focus on what’s ahead. We haven’t been 100 percent, but we know what we can do when everyone’s in the lineup.”
Frias had six first-quarter points in the paint, and the second quarter saw both Vera’s and senior Aidan Balkaran dial long distance. Balkaran hasn’t been in the lineup due to an injury suffered on the opening day of practice. Senior standout Sean O’Neil, who averages 13 points per game, saw limited minutes while he nurses an injury.
“Having Nelson back healthy allows us to do so much,” Wimmer said of Frias. “He opens things up for the guards and tonight our guards were on fire.”
The teams meet again at Oceanside Feb. 13 in the regular-season finale. Risener is hopeful that game will have playoff implications for the Sailors, who need at least a .500 conference mark to qualify for the Class AAA tournament.
“First time through the conference schedule we’re 2-5 with two games we had a real chance to win,” Risener said. “There are results we’re capable of flipping, so that’s encouraging. Josh is one of the best players in Nassau County and other guys are really coming along.”
