Malverne rallies for tourney win

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Adjustments with its shot selection and defensive pressure helped Malverne overcome a five-point halftime deficit to beat Oceanside, 65-49, in the opening round of the Hank Williams Tournament on Dec. 27.

Seniors Donovan Ishmael (17) and Elliot Edwards (14) and sophomore Michael Warren (16) all scored in double figures for the Mules, who won for the seventh time in eight games to start the season. They advanced to face Port Washington, a 56-35 winner over West Hempstead, in the tourney final after Herald press time. Senior Brian Pod paced Oceanside with 17 points.

“We made a commitment to get the ball inside in the second half and that helped tremendously along with a 3-2 zone press,” Malverne assistant coach Walter Aksionoff said. “Oceanside played a solid first half but we found a way to wear them down. Our offense clicked in the second half. We had 22 points at halftime and were able to score 24 in the third quartrer.”

Warren, a smooth lefty guard, who is averaging 16.5 points over the first eight games, scored a dozen in the second half and had eight assists on the night. “He’s a very talented and unselfish player,” Aksionoff said. “His points come in the flow of the game. He can break down opponents and is a phenomenal passer. By the time he graduates, he’s going to be one of the best players we’ve had here in a long time.”

The Mules (2-0 in conference games) have scored at least 63 points in all but one outing so far. Their only loss came to Suffolk power Amityville, 81-74, on Dec. 15. And they followed with an impressive 83-58 victory over conference rival Oyster Bay three nights later with senior DJayani Gaston hitting for 18 and junior Jayden Seraphin adding 16.

“One of the best things we did against Oceanside was cut down on fouls,” Aksionoff said. “We’ve been fouling too much and we were able to eliminate those. Oceanside had only three free throws.”

The Sailors were coming off a feel-good 51-50 win at the buzzer over Syosset in a Conference AA-I game. Junior Ralph Amitrano’s layup off an assist from senior Cesario Cesar won it. “Malverne plays really aggressive and made some things happen in the third quarter with their press,” Oceanside head coach Joe Supple said. “We closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to get within five but we just couldn’t make another run.”

Up next for the Sailors was the consolation game of the tournament against West Hempstead, which has struggled to put the ball in the basket thus far. The Rams slipped to 1-6 with the loss to Port and have managed to top 50 points only three times.

Senior Michael Parnell accounted for most of the offense against Port, scoring a game-high 22 of West Hempstead’s 35. He had four treys and hit six free throws. The Vikings, coached by former Malverne grad Sean Dooley, got 17 points from Marc Daly and 14 from Christian Schwirzbin.

The Rams knocked off Friends Academy, 55-47, in a conference game Dec. 20 behind Parnell’s 24 and 13 from junior Duane Bernard.