Bay Shore basketball is undoubtedly back on the map. For a number of years, it’s been their neighboring Brentwood who have ran Section XI. But after this season, they will be named amongst the basketball heavy hitters on Long Island.
Coach Kenny Parham has done it again. Despite losing in the state final game against Green Tech High School this past Sunday, he has led the Bay Shore boys basketball team to a Long Island Championship for the first time in many years. Coach Parham is no stranger to coaching, championship games, and much success. He has coached both boys’ and girls’ high school and college basketball all over the Island. The Bay Shore graduate has led the Huntington boys’ varsity team, the St. Anthony’s girls’ team, the NYIT college girls’ team, and now the Bay Shore boys’ team once again. He has won multiple state championships with the Lady Friars of St. Anthony’s, where he coached multiple NCAA Division 1 basketball players. It’s easy to say that Coach Parham has been successful at each stop of the coaching journey.
Coach Parham had a talented group to work with this year at Bay Shore. After an early and unexpected exit in the playoffs last year, basketball fans in Suffolk County have been saying that 2023-24 belonged to Bay Shore, especially when word came that senior forward Christian Smiley would be transferring from Amityville to play at Bay Shore his senior year. Smiley was really the icing on the cake for this already tough team. Bay Shore rolled past Baldwin in the Long Island Championship game at Farmingdale State college, with Bay Shore being the convincingly better team. They pulled ahead by twenty points shortly after halftime and Baldwin just didn’t have the fire power to come back, not to mention that Bay Shore plays a zone defense that is a hard nut to totally crack open.
Coach Parham and the Long Island champs then headed up to Glens Falls to compete for the state title. There are two games to win at the arena to be crowned as New York State champion. Bay Shore was not only competing for this title but also to keep its perfect season intact, a feat that’s rather rare in high school basketball. The semifinal game against Niagara Falls High School seemed to go just as the Long Island Championship game did. Bay Shore came out hot and never cooled down, winning the semifinal match by 56-42. But the final game against Green Tech seemed to go just the opposite. Green Tech seemed to barely miss any three-pointers in the first half. Despite Bay Shore chipping back at the lead in the second half of the game, Green Tech never fully let up. They ended up stealing Bay Shore’s state final trophy and perfect season finish with a score of 79-63.
The Messenger congratulates the Bay Shore boys’ basketball team and the community of Bay Shore on a historic season. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for each of you remarkable young men.
