Hoops preview: Mattituck, Southold, Greenport look to become champs

Over three days, three North Fork basketball teams will face similar challenges.

They will try to defeat top-seeded sides in their Suffolk County high school championship games.

On Sunday, March 1, the third-seeded Mattituck boys meet Southampton in the Class B final, while No. 2 Southold counterparts will play Pierson in the Class C championship game, at 2 and 4 p.m., respectively, at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue.

On Tuesday, March 3, the second-seeded Greenport/Southold girls take on Babylon for the Class B crown at Suffolk County Community College-Selden at 7 p.m.

None of those three squads posted wins against their rivals during the regular season, but they remain hopeful.

Mattituck (6-15) vs. Southampton (15-4)

The Tuckers lost to the Mariners at home, 89-62, on Jan. 6, and on the road, 79-66, on Jan. 23.

“It’s a 32-minute game. In both of those games, 26 minutes of the game were pretty even,” coach Paul Ellwood said. “It’s that six minutes where we get rattled, and we turn the ball over. They went on big runs that decided the games.”

The Tuckers will be asked to stop, or at least slow down, 6-foot-3 senior guard Alex Franklin, one of the county’s most dangerous scoring threats. Franklin, who became Southampton’s all-time scorer in January, is second in the county (25.5 points per game). He has a 10-game streak in which he has tallied at least 15 points. Franklin accrued 42 points and 27 rebounds in the first encounter against the Tuckers, collecting 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in the most recent game.

“When we stopped him, we focused on him so much,” Ellwood said. “Many times, we left ourselves open for offensive rebounds. We let him have multiple chances to score. We’ve got to keep them off the offensive boards.”

Sophomore guard Connor Searl, who is 16th in the country (18.7 ppg), leads the Tuckers, followed by fellow 10th-graders Antonio Sparacio (13.5) and Oakley Carr-Smith (11.7).

“We’ve grown on both ends of the floor considerably,” Ellwood said. “We’ve become a much better defensive team. At the beginning of the year, we couldn’t even play man defense.” 

Southold (13-7) vs. Pierson (15-5)

Settlers coach Will Fujita knows his foes well, having coached many of the Whalers.

“I have a ton of respect for them as a program,” he said. “A lot of the players I had myself as a coach. So, I know how formidable they are. But it’s an opportunity. We’re going to look at it like that and just do our best as we can.”

Pierson defeated Southold, 61-45, on Jan. 13 and 63-50, on Feb. 3.

“They’re a tough-nosed team,” Fujita said. “Every one of those kids can shoot. They play great man-to-man defense. They move their feet well. We have two games of film from watching them play that we can use as an example. We did a better job when we played them the second time. That’s a credit to the guys, watching film, taking notes, and learning assignments. If we continue to do that, if it’s close at the end of the game, it’s the playoffs. Anything can happen.”

The Settlers are led by junior forward Kyan Olsen, who is 19th in the county at 18 ppg. Senior forward Travis Sepenoski (14.1 ppg) has a history of doing the little things that make a big impact.

Southold has overcome the loss of defensive specialist, junior guard Brandon Moran (knee injury).

“We’ve just changed a ton,” Fujita said. “Losing Brandon early in the season was very unfortunate, but it allowed for other guys to have the opportunity to not fill his role but find opportunities to create a role for themselves.”

Fujita has enjoyed the ride to the final.

“It’s been awesome,” he said. “This year has been one of the most fun years I’ve had as a coach. The group of guys that we have are great. They spend time together at practice, but they also hang out outside of school as well. They have no problem being honest with each other, but they also are encouraging.”

Greenport/Southold (11-5) vs. Babylon (17-3)

The Porters dropped both their games, at Babylon, 53-43, on Jan. 10, and again, 46-25, on Jan. 26.

“We didn’t play well in either game against them,” coach Ev Corwin said. “We have to play a real clean game. They’re a good team. They went through our league fairly easily this year.”

Their defense has been superb. In 10 of their 11 victories, they conceded 36 points or less. They need someone other than Francesca Santacroce (11.4 ppg), the lone senior on the team, to score consistently.

“We could use a big game from her,” Corwin said. “That would take pressure off a lot of the girls. We have to get on to a good start.”

Corwin has appreciated the Porters’ effort. 

“I can’t think of a game where I can say our defense wasn’t good, but you’ve got to outscore the other team, too,” Corwin said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to put the ball in the basket a little bit.”

Babylon is led by Morgan Fiedler, who is third in the county at 19.2 ppg.