Seaford stays hot, beats Clarke

Clarke only trailed first-place Seaford by three points at halftime of last Friday night’s boys’ basketball game in front of its home fans before Bobby Buell took over for the Vikings.

The senior guard scored 11 of his game-high 19 points during the third quarter to help propel Seaford to a 61-41 victory. The win improved Seaford to 8-2 in Conference A-V with two games remaining. Clarke, which has dropped five games this year by 10 points or less, fell to 1-13 overall and is still searching its first conference win with three games left on the schedule.

“It just started falling,” said Buell, who drained three 3-pointers in the third quarter including one from beyond NBA range that gave the Vikings a 45-36 lead. “We play well off momentum.”

“We played a much better second half,” Seaford head coach Ralph Rossetti said. “We moved the ball a little better.”

Buell was one of three Seaford players in double figures along with 6-5 center Michael Scully and guard Keith McHugh, who both registered 13. Clarke head coach Dan Reece said trying to limit Scully inside was a major focus, which led to Seaford getting more open looks from the perimeter.

“We didn’t want them to beat us underneath since we are a little outsized but they got hot from the outside,” Reece said. “When you protect the paint you leave open a few guys on the perimeter.”

Helping keep Clarke in the game was Joe Roche, who scored 21 points including six 3-pointers and a rare four-point play that accounted for the Rams only fourth quarter field goal. Renson Ormita chipped in with 12 with half of those coming in the third quarter as Seaford began its dominant game-ending run.

“We needed to be a little bit better defensively and we weren’t when we needed to be,” said Reece. “We let it get away from us a little bit.”

Reece said after the Seaford loss he hopes his team can finish the season strong with remaining games on the road at Island Trees and Locust Valley followed by the season finale against Mineola on Friday at 8 p.m. The Rams dropped both previous games to Island Trees and Mineola by just five points.

“We need to finish up with a little pride,” Reece said. “We’re out of playoff contention but that doesn’t mean we can’t finish with a win or two and end on a positive note especially with our juniors coming back and to send out our seniors the right way.”

Seaford closes the regular season at Locust Valley this Friday night. The Vikings entered the week half-a-game ahead of Friends Academy and one game in front of West Hempstead in the Conference A-V standings.

“We have to stay strong,” Buell said. “It’s two teams we have beaten before and if we take these two teams down we have a real good shot at winning the conference.”