Port Washington rallies from sluggish first quarter to beat Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK
Trevor Amalfitano of Port Washington gestures after hitting a three-point basket late in the first half in a Nassau boys basketball game against Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK on Saturday. Credit: Neil Miller
Behind a stifling defense that held Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK without a point in the last 2:16 of the game, Port Washington escaped with a 46-43, win at Plainview Old Bethpage on Saturday afternoon, to maintain its hold on second place in Nassau AA-II.
Trevor Amalfitano was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points followed by Ryan Shanahan with 11 for Port Washington (11-5 overall, 7-3 in conference play). Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK (10-6, 6-4) was led by Logan Weisenthal with 13 points and Ryan Wolf with 10.
“We’re a team, we’re a family. When we are together, nobody can beat us,” Amalfitano said.
Port Washington got off to a slow start, falling behind 10-0 on back-to-back layups by Weisenthal, and consecutive three-pointers by Wolf. At that point, Port Washington coach Sean Dooley called a timeout to have his team regroup.
“We had to take a deep breath and calm down a little bit,” Dooley said. “They made their run, they came out hot at home with a good crowd . . . we just needed to get back to playing simple and not trying to do too much.”
After the timeout, the Vikings steadied a bit to trail12-4 after the first quarter.
Then Port Washington flipped the offensive switch and scored 21 points, capped off by Camren Welker's three-pointer at the buzzer to lead at the half 25-23.
“We went into the half off my big buzzer-beater so it gave us really good momentum to come out of halftime,” said Welker, who finished with nine points.
The Vikings twice led by five points in the second half, including 37-32 after three quarters, but but Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK rallied to tie both times. Then there was that Port Washington defense down the stretch that clinched the win.
Afterward, Amalfitano said: “We got to play 32 straight minutes . . . It can't be first quarter we’re slacking, and then it comes to a close game. We should be walking out of here with a 15-point win.”
Next up for Port Washington is Tuesday's conference matchup at Westbury. Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK plays at Valley Stream Central on Tuesday.