Elmont falls to Southampton

On a day where offense wasn’t easy to come by, one hot hand made all the difference in the world for Southampton in Sunday’s Long Island Class A boys’ basketball championship game.

Junior guard Andre Franklin came off the bench to score a game-high 29 points, including seven three-pointers on eight attempts, to lead the Mariners to a 60-53 win over defending champ Elmont at Stony Brook University. Franklin hit for a dozen points in the second quarter and was by far the biggest reason Southampton never looked back after overcoming a five-point deficit after the first to lead by three at halftime.

“He was the difference,” Mariners head coach Herm Lamison said of Franklin, who scored all of his points after the first quarter. “We didn’t play very well offensively but we rebounded and played good defense.”

Senior Timmy Alejo had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Micah Snowden added 9 points and 9 rebounds for Southampton, which improved to 21-3 and advanced to the state Final Four this weekend in Binghamton. 

Junior center K.C. Ndefo stood out for Elmont, which didn’t fully capitalize on Southampton’s sloppy play in the opening quarter but still led 11-6 thanks to a nine-point spurt. Ndefo finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks. He was the only double-digit scorer for the Spartans, who won 18 games on the season including a second straight Nassau County crown.

“We couldn’t get it going offensively,” Elmont head coach George Holub said. “We started off OK, but things went south real quick.”

After Snowden knocked down a pair of free throws to open the second quarter, Franklin made his presence felt. He drained his first attempt from behind the arc to tie it at 11, hit two more lead-changing treys and then finally a tiebreaking three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer for a 25-22 advantage.

The game got away from Elmont in the third quarter. It hit just one shot from the field and was held to five points, which resulted in a 42-27 deficit entering the fourth. The margin peaked at 18.

“Give Southampton all the credit,” Holub said. “They played well and it wasn’t our day.”