Jake Vanderputten's 17 points lead Port Washington past Southampton at Nassau Coliseum
Jake Vanderputten of Port Washington lines up his foul shot during a boys basketball game against Southampton on Monday at Nassau Coliseum. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Port Washington was playing in the building where Julius Erving helped deliver New York’s last pro basketball title in 1976, soaring with a red, white and blue ball for the ABA Nets. The wait for another title has gone on a lot longer at the varsity level for the Vikings.
The program last ruled Nassau in 1947. Port Washington fell in a close Class AA final against Baldwin last season. Now it’s back with another good team to try to make another run, this time in AAA.
They were at Nassau Coliseum Monday night to face Southampton, now an A team after being a Class B state final four team last March.
Port Washington went out and dominated, building a 28-point advantage in the third quarter and cruising to a 67-53 win.
So the Vikings are 5-0.
“We’ve been good for the last handful of years,” coach Sean Dooley said. “I like this group, but we’re preaching one day at a time. … This is a great win. But we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We have another great opponent Wednesday in Chaminade.”
Jake Vanderputten scored 17 points to lead them. The 6-6 junior center/forward also likes the look of this team.
“I think we could possibly go undefeated and win the county (championship),” Vanderputten said.
Trevor Amalfitano added 15 points to the cause.
“We just never give up,” the standout senior shooting guard said. “No matter what happens, ups, downs, we stay together.”
Southampton had some downs with preseason injuries. Sophomore guard Alex Franklin missed this season opener for the Mariners. Dominick White scored 18, but the senior guard suffered a dislocated finger.
Vanderputten scored eight of his 10 first-quarter points on layups in the first 2:13. It was 11-0, just like that.
By the end of the period, it was 24-6.
“I think we just ran a really good offense,” Vanderputten said. “We had a lot of good looks. My teammates were looking inside to me and I was just going up strong and getting a lot of buckets.”
By halftime, the lead sat at 43-21. When Amalfitano hit two free throws late in the third, the Vikings led 60-32.
“I think we played a really, really good basketball team on their side of the ball,” Southampton coach Herm Lamison said. “It just shows for us that we’re not ready quite yet. Our preseason factored into how we played today.”
