High School hoop notes

BOYS

Yacoubou unselfish

When Achraf Yacoubou hit a three to put Long Island Lutheran up 21 over Chaminade with 0.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter on Thursday night, it seemed an odd time for Lutheran coach John Buck to call a time out.

Then an announcement was made saying that Yacoubou had just scored his 1,000th career point for LuHi.

"I was happy and surprised," Yacoubou said in a text message Friday. "I didn't know I was that close to making it. Everyone was so happy and making a lot of noise, clapping."

Yacoubou - a junior who is in his second year at LuHi after transferring from American Christian in Philadelphia last year - finished with 24 points as the Crusaders (17-6) beat Chaminade, 73-56.

As a player that focuses on spreading the ball and team play over individual accomplishments, it was no surprise that Yacoubou was unaware of the milestone.

"He had no idea," Buck said. "He's not really big on personal stats but I think it did mean a lot to him after seeing his reaction. Over two years he has done a lot to help our program and I think he took pride in it."

LuHi is also celebrating the return of point guard Mike Florin, who has averaged 15.7 points and helped the Crusaders go 3-0 since returning from a sprained ankle that sidelined him for more than month.

"When we are at full strength, we are very tough to beat," Buck said. "It's been a while since we have been healthy so hopefully we stay that way and go all the way to Glens Falls."

End of the run

Manhasset's 67-65 loss to Westbury in Friday night's Nassau Class A quarterfinal marked the end of the road for a group of Manhasset seniors that helped the team turnaround from 2-16 and 4-13 seasons in 2007 and 2008 to become a playoff team that challenged No. 2 Westbury well into the fourth quarter.

"For a couple years back, we had no juniors or seniors," Manhasset coach George Bruns said. So guard Matt Demitroff and guard/forward Stu Hicks played varsity as freshmen, and center Evan Pupelis played a lot as a sophomore. Growing pains ensued with the losing seasons, but they ended this year 12-7 with the playoff run.

More honors for Harris

Add another all-star team to the list for Tobias Harris. The Half Hollow Hills West senior was among 20 players selected this week to play in the Jordan Brand All-American game April 17 at Madison Square Garden. The game, which will be televised live on ESPN2 at 8 p.m., includes the top 10 high school seniors in the country, according to ESPNU rankings. Harris, who will play at Tennessee, was also named a McDonald's All-American last week.

CHSAA postseason

Playoff matchups are set in the CHSAA. No. 1 St. John the Baptist gets a first-round bye and will host the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 4 St. Anthony's and No. 5 Holy Trinity, which should have leading scorer Tyler Seidman back after missing five games with a sprained ankle. No. 2 St. Mary's also expects its leading scorer, Chauvaughn Lewis, to return from his two game absence for their game against No. 7 St. Dominic. No. 3 Chaminade will take on No. 6 Kellenberg.