Trying to defend North Shore’s boys’ basketball team has its challenges and Lynbrook found out firsthand last Friday night when the Vikings led from start to finish on the way to a fourth straight Conference A-IV victory and fifth overall, 53-38.
North Shore, which began the season 0-5 including a loss to Wantagh in the conference opener, is without a dominant scorer but can attack from anywhere on the court. Sophomore David Berlin came off the bench at Lynbrook to score a team-high 13 points, marking the fifth straight game the Vikings (5-5 overall, 4-1 in A-IV) had a different leading scorer. The Owls (4-6, 1-4) got 10 points from junior Thomas DeMenezes.
“Our guys just flat-out share the ball,” North Shore head coach Kevin Carpenter said. “We only care about one stat and that’s the W. We’ve got balanced scoring and I think the best attribute of this team is we’re like a chameleon. We can match up against anything our opponent likes to do.”
Junior Luke Jacklin, who had 23 points to lead a blowout victory over Floral Park on Jan. 4, contributed a dozen against Lynbrook. Senior Will Scarola, who poured in 18 to lead the way to a win over Oyster Bay last month, chipped in seven points along with juniors Phil LaRosa and Jack Ledden. LaRosa scored a team-high 13 as North Shore got into the win column against Plainedge, while sophomore Daniel Quigley led five Vikings in double figures with 16 in a win over Valley Stream North two days before the Owls held him to two field goals.
“Quigley hit five threes against North and we were conscious of our perimeter defense tonight,” Lynbrook head coach Jamie Adams said. “They play a lot like we did last season where they’ve got five guys on the court who can hurt you inside and out.”