Lucas Dillon's free throws give Chaminade edge in boys basketball win over St. Dominic
Lucas Dillon of Chaminade lays the ball up to the backboard during the game at the Gary Charles Tip of the Hat Classic boys basketball Tournament at Chaminade High School, in Mineola, NY, on Jan. 4, 2026. Credit: Sam Johnston
Lucas Dillon and his coach, Dan Feeney, were working together Monday inside Chaminade’s gym with an important home game looming. They tried to cure some wayward foul shooting by the talented sophomore guard that cropped up in the previous two home games.
“We cleaned up a couple of things on the free-throw line,” Feeney said after Dillon had missed nine of 11 combined in those games. “He made a whole bunch (Monday). It lifted his confidence a little bit.”
St. Dominic had to foul late in Tuesday night’s game after junior Jake Ellwood gave Chaminade a four-point lead with a key three. Guess who the Bayhawks ended up fouling?
Dillon went 4-for-4 at the line in the final 19 seconds to cap a 15-point effort. And the Flyers hung on for a 55-53 win that moved them into first in the NSCHSAA by a half-game.
“We’re looking great,” Dillon said. “We’ve still got one more game. We’ve got to win it, but our chemistry is high. I think we can go far this year.”
Ellwood scored 11 and senior Emmett Nelson added 10 on senior night. So Chaminade is 8-3 in the league and 17-6 overall. The top five teams were all within two games of each other at the start of the day.
“There’s no doubt it’s the best league on Long Island,” Feeney said. “ . . . Ideally, we want to get into the top two and you get a bye into the semis.”
Chaminade led 22-20 at halftime and 38-37 after three.
After Dillon provided a 48-47 edge with a layup, Ellwood stretched it with his third three, this one from the left wing with about 40 seconds left.
“I’m definitely confident,” Ellwood said. “Just trusting the work I put in and trusting my shot and just stepping up.”
Then Dillon made it 53-47 with two foul shots. After Nick Anson scored for St. Dominic on a goaltending call, Dillon hit two more at the line. A Bayhawks jumper, a Flyers turnover and a Bayhawks layup at the buzzer set the final margin.
St. Dominic (15-8, 6-5) received 20 points from Anson, including 12 in the fourth, and 16 from Melo Mojeed.
“I think we’ve shown that we can play with every team in our league,” Bayhawks coach Isaiah Wilson said. “But we’ve just got to do a better job closing out games and really just executing down the stretch.”
