Wantagh rallies past Valley Stream North

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Spotting Valley Stream North the first 14 points of last Saturday afternoon’s Nassau Conference A4 boys’ basketball matchup presented first-place Wantagh with its largest deficit of the season.
The Warriors, however, didn’t panic and played shutdown defense in the second half as the offense found its groove behind senior forward Jakai Lester and the backcourt tandem of junior Charlie DeStefano and senior Danny Fisenne.
Lester scored 18 of his game-high 23 points over the final 16 minutes, while DeStefano and Fisenne combined for 13 points after halftime to lead Wantagh to a 47-37 comeback victory. It marked its seventh win in eight conference tries and a season sweep of the Spartans, who were led by junior Jalen Harrison’s 20 points.
“They have some good shooters and we started slow,” Lester said. “We knew we had time to battle back, but it wasn’t easy. Defense wins games and we were able to lock them down in the second half.”
Wantagh (12-2 overall) remained in the driver’s seat to the A4 crown and a high seed in the Class A playoffs and dropped North (9-7 overall, 4-4 in A4) onto the postseason bubble with four games to go.

“They just beat Bethpage at the buzzer and we knew they were going to come out firing,” Wantagh head coach Matt Simeone said of the Spartans, who led by 12 after the first quarter and by 11 at the half. “We just had to stay true to who we are and that’s work hard and play strong defense,” he added. “Basketball is a game of runs and we got back in it with a big third quarter and kept it going in the fourth.”
Three-pointers from Harrison and fellow juniors Dominic Obukwelu (10 points) and Danny Kosior helped stake North to a 14-0 start. The Warriors were held scoreless for more than six minutes before junior Jake Tate came off the bench to end the drought.
It was the Spartans who couldn’t find the scoreboard in the second half with just 5 points in each of the last two quarters. They struggled with outside shooting and were unable to outmuscle Lester and classmates Jake Borgese and Ryan Daly for rebounds.
“There’s a reason Wantagh is where they are in the standings,” North head coach Michael McVeigh said. “We had a strong first half. In the second half, we created open shots but missed a lot.”
Harrison scored all of the Spartans’ third-quarter points as the Warriors began to chip away. The margin was 32-26 when a long-range shot by North’s Jayden Rodriguez was more than halfway to falling before spinning out of the rim. DeStefano drained a trey on the ensuing possession and the rally was on.
Wantagh would enjoy a 14-0 run of its own and led 40-32 midway through the fourth. Daly had a strong move to the basket to close the third quarter, then Lester took over early in the fourth with seven points — two from inside the paint, two from the foul line, and a shot from behind the arc.
“We like where we’re at but we still have work to do,” Simeone said. “It’s a tough conference and every team battles.”