Luke O'Connor surprises himself with buzzer-beater for Kellenberg basketball
Luke O'Connor of Kellenberg sinks the winning basket as the clock expires during a Nassau boys basketball game against Valley Stream Central in Rockville Center on Monday, December 29, 2025. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Kellenberg senior guard Marcus Lambright held the ball with a defender in his face as the final seconds of the game, tied at 51 against Valley Stream Central, ticked away. He then passed to teammate Luke O’Connor.
Everything was a bit off, though. The pass took a deflection, forcing O’Connor further from the basket and closer to the three-point line. The junior had no time to find a teammate for a different look and hadn’t scored since the first quarter.
Yet, with a hand in his face and another defender on his back, O’Connor turned, launched and hit a mid-range jumper that served as the buzzer-beater as he roared and jumped to bump teammate John Hastings midair.
“Coach put the trust in me to hit the game-winner, and I did it,” O’Connor said. “But the rest of the team carried the weight. I didn’t play too well in the beginning, and they fought back.”
Kellenberg took its first lead since the second quarter as time expired, beating Valley Stream Central, 53-51, in the opening round of the South Side Holiday Tournament at South Side High School in a Monday boys basketball contest. The Firebirds (3-4) will face South Side in the championship game Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Lambright expressed full confidence in O’Connor’s ability to hit the winner.
“When he shot it, I thought it was game,” Lambright said.
The shooter himself might’ve disagreed.
“I just threw it at the rim with little to no hope,” O’Connor said with a smile.
O’Connor also blocked Valley Stream Central’s Julian Vera’s layup with 1:15 remaining to keep the score tied at 51-51.
“We’ve played some really tough teams. We may not have won the games, but we’re right there and a possession away,” Kellenberg coach Chris Lyons said. “And that kind of sums Luke up. He’s more than capable, he works very hard and he seems to always be in those right spots where he can make that block or put it in the hoop.”
Lambright scored Kellenberg’s first seven points of the game — a strong start he attributed to a winning “mentality” — and finished with a team-high 14 points and three steals.
“I couldn’t come out and just lose this thing again,” Lambright said. “I’ve been here for three years, so I couldn’t come out and play the consolation game again.”
Senior Jordan Porter impressed off the bench, scoring eight points with a steal, a block and a charge taken.
“If we had 15 guys that played with Jordan Porter’s energy, we’d be really, really good,” Lyons said.
Valley Stream Central’s Vera had a team-high 14 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Senior Sean O’Neil added 10 points with five assists and two steals for the Eagles (3-1).
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
