Greenport girls hoops to unveil championship banners for past teams

It has been some five decades since Greenport High School produced one of the most unique dynasties in Suffolk County girls’ basketball.

The Porters won eight league championships during the sport’s early days. And now the school wants to honor those teams and the pioneering players who helped establish the sport on the North Fork.

At halftime of Greenport’s League VII game with Pierson on Monday, Feb. 2, Greenport will honor those teams with a special unveiling of championship banners. Tipoff is set for 6:15 p.m.

“It was quite a run,” Greenport athletic director Brian Toussaint said. “This is when girls basketball was just starting at Greenport. Honoring them is definitely long overdue, and we’re proud to bring the history back in our gym.”

The Porters won seven consecutive titles from the 1973-74 to 1979-80 seasons and in the 1981-82 campaign.

“For years, being in the gym and then coaching, they had these smaller banners,” girls basketball head coach Ev Corwin said. “I used to always marvel at the run that they went on in the ’70s.”

Corwin, who directed the Greenport boys team to the state Class C Final Four before losing to Lake George in 2018, understood the degree of difficulty to win.

“There’s a lot of different pieces there,” he said. “They kept winning. You build a team up, they win. Then you have to start again.”

The seeds for Monday night’s event were planted after last year’s Greenport Athletic Hall of Fame ceremonies.

“A community member asked me about some missing girls’ championship banners,” Toussaint said. “I walked her over to where we have our girls’ championship banners in the gym. She told me, ‘Well, there’s a bunch that are missing.’ This sparked an effort to look into these banners. We asked community members.

“We got members of our school history club to look at some old yearbooks,” he continued. “I reached out to some other schools in Suffolk County to try to identify these banners. We were able to identify what would have been on those banners, what they look like. We were able to re-create a pretty historically accurate replacement.”

That’s what spectators will see on Monday night.

Jane Utz, a physical education teacher at the school with her husband, Cliff, coached those legendary teams. When the Porters secured the League VIII crown with a 12-0 record in 1979, they recorded a 60-21 victory over Southold. Debbie Solomon, an All-Long Island player, scored 23 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and made eight steals.

After the state tournament was created, Greenport reached the Class D Eastern Regionals in 1982, losing to Tuxedo High School, 57-43.

Defense was stressed on those teams. For example, the Porters conceded just one point to East Hampton in the second quarter of a 39-21 win on Feb. 8, 1982.

Corwin can relate to that because defense is a hallmark of this year’s team.

In the Porters’ 43-27 victory over East Hampton on Jan. 21, they shut out the visitors in the third quarter, 19-0. In their 34-20 win over Southampton on Jan. 23, they blanked the Mariners, 10-0, in the opening period.

“I’m definitely proud of the way we’ve been playing defensively. We’re getting better,” he said. “Those teams were winning then because obviously they had really good defense. It’s just the name of the game.”

The school has extended invitations to players from those teams on social media, including its Facebook page. They can contact the high school at [email protected].

“Your accomplishments helped build the tradition and success of Greenport girls basketball, and we would be honored to recognize you in front of our school community, current players and fans,” the Facebook message said. “If you are in contact with other alumni from these teams, please feel free to share this invitation so we can reach as many former players as possible.

“We truly hope you can join us for this special night.”

The Porters’ story for this year has yet to be written. They are close to clinching a Class B playoff spot.

They have four games remaining in the League VII season. Greenport (8-3, 6-3) has back-to-back road games this weekend, visiting Port Jefferson on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Babylon on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. That contest is a rescheduled game from Monday, due to the storm.

After hosting Pierson, Greenport will close out the regular season at East Hampton on Feb. 4 at 3:30 p.m.

The Class B finals are scheduled for Suffolk County Community College in Selden on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m.