Extending their thanks on the long Thanksgiving weekend, the boys basketball teams had much to smile about as they hosted the Mustangs from Capuchino on Saturday afternoon. The Freshman and Varsity squads cruised to easy victories in front of family and friends, while the JV couldn't manage to complete the sweep.
The Freshman Vikes completely overwhelmed the Mustangs, jumping to a 14-0 start in the first quarter and extending the lead to 31-6 at halftime. Coach Ajay Singh compared the team's play to an episode of Drake and Josh. The Freshman led from start to finish and completed the first game of the day with a 60-21 final which featured nearly the entire 4th quarter with a running clock. Coach was able to extensively play his bench and see contributions from most players.
The JV team looked nervous from the start. Only one of the four returners to the team had extensive minutes this past year and the lack of experience showed. Coach Jeff Bale also noted it was huge jump for the team's 9th graders. "I dropped my three freshmen into the game, and it was a bit much for these young bloods. Now they've been baptized by the fire." The team was down 16-8 after one, and 37-20 at half. The Vikes won both the 3rd and 4th quarters with improved and more patient play, fighting back to get within single digits but still lost 60-52 - never overcoming the 2-3 zone defense. "You can't play 16 minutes and expect a win" noted Bale, who also wondered out loud whether his players might have gotten into some bad cranberries.
The Varsity Vikes struck back dropping the Mustangs into a quick 10-0 hole. Judah "Chainz" Marks hitting two early threes, and the Mustangs not helping themselves with faulty footwork on the offensive end. Lynbrook led 33-19 at the half and never let the Mustangs back into the game. The Vikes came out and started the 2nd half with a steal and score by Marks, and followed it up with a downtown trey by Ethan "Jin n tonic" who then immediately stole the inbounds pass and was fouled going to the rack. The rest of the team would help extend the lead and finish with a 65-40 victory. Coach Rick Appler, when pressed on a key player for the game simply said, "Han Solo... he's like a bag of gummy bears." Any basketball fan knows that is a high mark of praise.
Viking Basketball Alums "Trey" Gao and "EZ Breezy" showed up and embarrassed themselves at halftime shooting enough bricks to enclose a marching band. The Frosh and JV squads return next week to play Hillsdale on Wednesday and Irvington on Saturday.
