Lawrence rolls into championship game

For the first time in more than 20 years, Lawrence is one win away from a Nassau County basketball championship.

The sixth-seeded Golden Tornadoes outscored No. 15 Great Neck North in all four quarters last Friday night on the way to a 63-45 Class A semifinal playoff victory at SUNY-Old Westbury’s Clark Athletic Center.

Senior Ahmad Shamseldin scored a game-high 14 points and senior Samson Bialostok, sophomore Clifton Lyerly and senior Ibraheem Shamseldin chipped in 11 apiece to lead a well-balanced attack for Lawrence, which has won 11 straight and takes a 17-3 record into the title game against No. 1 Manhasset (18-2) next Saturday at Hofstra at 3:30 p.m. Bialostok added 15 rebounds and sophomore Eddie Robinson had eight points and 10 boards.

“It’s a great feeling,” Lawrence coach Peter Linderman said. “We’re peaking at the right time, but we know we’ll have to play a strong game to beat Manhasset.”

Great Neck North, which upset second-seeded South Side in the opening round and sent No. 10 Valley Stream North packing in the quarterfinals, was led by Ariel Mardkhai’s 11 points. The Blazers hung tough in the first quarter but couldn’t match Lawrence’s pace in the second and fell behind by double digits—25-15—with 2:24 remaining in the half.

“A trend of ours lately has been settling for three-point attempts early in games,” Linderman said. “We can shoot, but we’d rather get into a flow and run the floor. We wanted this game to be our tempo.”

That was pretty much the case after Evan Dorman kept Great Neck North close through the first quarter by scoring six of his nine points. Ahmad Shamseldin and Robinson also had six in the opening stanza as Lawrence took a 17-13 lead.

“I think we all knew what our potential was back in November,” said Robinson, who had to overcome some foul trouble. “We work well together. As long as we execute, we’re fine.”