Greenport guard Kal Marine sinks the baseline layup against St....

Greenport guard Kal Marine sinks the baseline layup against St. Pius V in a league VIII game, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 at Greenport. Credit: George A Faella

On Monday, closing time meant Kal Marine time.

Greenport held a 17-point third-quarter lead over St. Pius V, but it led by only seven with 5:56 remaining. Marine engineered an emphatic response in Greenport’s eventual 71-58 home win in Suffolk League VIII boys basketball.

The Porters senior guard scored eight points in a 47-second span – two corner threes and a transition layup – as part of a 12-2 Greenport run to bring the lead back to 17 at 67-50 with 2:37 remaining. The Crusaders never came within 13 points again.

“Our main scorer Nelson (Shedrick), he was kind of getting taken away, so it was kind of 4-on-4 basketball and we got so much space,” said Marine, who had 18 points and hit four three-pointers. “... We were just driving, kicking, hitting shots, and it just worked out for us.”

Senior forward Taiquan Brumsey scored 19 points and hit four threes and Shedrick scored 17 for Greenport (16-2, 14-2), which completed the three-game regular-season sweep of St. Pius (9-8, 8-7).

“Our defense was a little shaky because they started to figure out how to break it,” Brumsey said. “So we just switched it up (from a 2-1-2 zone to a 3-2) and just played hard. We didn’t let them outrebound us and outwork us.”

Greenport extended its lead to 46-29 on Daniel Rivas’ layup with 5:28 left in the third quarter, but St. Pius ended the quarter on a 14-3 run to make it a 49-43 deficit.

Crusaders senior guard Matthew Pohalski, who had 12 points and seven assists, hit a deep three to cut it to 55-48 before the Porters’ game-sealing run.

“With us, it’s all defensively,” Greenport coach Justin Moore said. “I think when they went on their run, we kind of let up off the gas defensively. With a team like that, that has shooters, you can see it – you let up a little bit, and they’ll come back.”

Searching for its first county title since 2019, Greenport had already clinched a spot in the Suffolk Class C championship, set for March 2.

John Kearns had 17 points and Dominic Fantz had 16 for St. Pius, the Melville-based school that is run by nuns. The Crusaders, in their second season as a program and first in a league, have played all their games on the road. They will face Bridgehampton in the Suffolk Class D championship on March 2.

“It’s been awesome for the boys,” said coach Andrew Pohalski, also Matthew’s father. “… We’ve had to travel out to all the games, hour-and-a-half ride (in a 15-passenger van), here and back, every single game, and the boys get this camaraderie.”

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