In the winter 2022-23 season, Smithtown West's Michael Cascione was on a family vacation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, thinking he'd need another year before seeing significant playing time. But an injury suddenly propelled the freshman into the lineup in a tough matchup against Northport.

He never would've believed at the time that, over 1,000 days later, he'd be the newest member of the Smithtown West 1,000-point club.

“I really didn't think during my freshman year I was going to touch 1,000 [points], or get close to it,” said Cascione, now a senior.

On Friday, Cascione achieved just that while scoring a season-high 29 points to lead Smithtown West to a 69-57 win over host Smithtown East in Suffolk III boys basketball.

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“Ever since he’s been here, he’s just been an animal,” Smithtown West coach Michael Agostino said. “It’s nothing that I can coach. He just has a motor that’s second to none. He’s a generational kid in terms of effort.”

A steal by Smithtown West’s Dan Braga led the senior to flip the ball forward to Cascione for a layup and a new milestone with 1:15 left in the first quarter.

“I should’ve went for the dunk,” Cascione said with a smile. “My head was going everywhere. Just seeing the fans jump up, screaming, it was really loud and an awesome atmosphere today.”

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Cascione’s 13 first-quarter points helped Smithtown West (9-1) take a 24-10 lead into the second quarter and hold a 36-23 lead at halftime.

However, Smithtown East senior Devin Saxon made sure the Battle of the Bulls would have a thrilling finish with an unforgettable scoring run. He knocked down a trio of three-pointers in the first three minutes of the second half and scored 17 of his 20 points in the third quarter.

Add in a strong second half by Smithtown East junior Andrew Tufo, who finished with 16 points, and Smithtown West suddenly led just 49-47 against Smithtown East (7-3) heading into the game’s final eight minutes.

“He can get extremely hot extremely fast,” Smithtown East coach Jon Feiler said of Saxon. “He also plays really good defense. The better his defense, the better his offense seems to play.”

“Guard [Saxon],” Agostino said of his message heading into the fourth quarter. “That kid was hitting shots from everywhere.”

Yet in a game defined by his start, Cascione ended strong with 11 fourth-quarter points and finished with 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Senior Tim Bannell added nine points and three steals and senior Casey Burton had six points, nine rebounds and two steals.

Junior Luke Brown scored five of his 13 points in the fourth quarter in a game so packed with fans that an additional bleacher had to be added to field the dozens of white-shirted Smithtown East fans.

“It’s awesome, I love it even more than a playoff game,” Brown said. “I love when both schools come out with the stands packed. It means much more than just basketball; the rivalry is huge.”

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