The first week of basketball playoffs in Suffolk County certainly didn’t disappoint. Several teams from both Brookhaven and Islip Towns showed up to play and did it well. As the brackets shrink down to just a few teams ready to face off for county titles, there are a few local teams still standing strong.
The Bellport boys’ team fought well with the leadership of point guard Marcine Allen-Boutwell to a round one victory over East Islip. The Clippers then faced a seasoned Smithtown West team at their house where Bellport was sent home for the season. Smithtown West will now face their neighbors Smithtown East in the class AA semifinal. The battle between these two squads is never a gentle one. The winner will face the winner of the other semifinal game between Deer Park and Half Hollow Hills East. This game will be on Saturday, March 2, at Longwood High School. The Sayville and Wyandanch game also didn’t disappoint. As expected, Wyandanch played and pushed even closer than the teams’ second meeting earlier in the season. This game went into overtime where Wyandanch once again came out on top. Congratulations to Sayville on another great season. Wyandanch will face off against a higher seeded Southampton team in the Class A semifinal game. On the opposite bracket is a semifinal with Elwood taking on Bayport-Blue Point. The final two teams will also face off this Saturday, March 2.
In the large school Class AAA first round, everything didn’t go as expected. That’s part of what makes playoff basketball so exciting. William Floyd knocked out the lower seed North Babylon team as predicted by many. Yet Northport also knocked out a higher seed Brentwood team that had beat them earlier in the season. Northport showed up to Brentwood High School ready to play basketball and did just that. On the opposite bracket, Patchogue played Commack in a game that had everyone on the edge of their seats. The game was decided by two free throws in the last few seconds of the game. Commack will face a still undefeated Bay Shore team. The winner of that will face off against the winner of Floyd and Northport. The Class AAA final will also be this Saturday at Longwood High School.
If you’re looking to check out some of the best basketball Suffolk County has to offer, this Saturday, March 2, Longwood High school will host each brackets’ final game. The winner of these games will face off against the Nassau County winner the following week. We hope to see you there!