Mingo leads Dalers to quarterfinal win
Farmingdale's Dalique Mingo drives hard ahead of Hicksville's Justin Tocays in the Nassau Class AA boys basketball quarterfinal game. (Feb. 20, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Dalique Mingo is hoping his climb up a ladder with a pair of scissors Tuesday wasn't the last of the season.
After No. 4 Farmingdale's 64-55 win over No. 5 Hicksville in the Nassau Class AA boys basketball quarterfinals, each Daler cut a strand of the net to save as a keepsake from clinching their trip to the Nassau County final four. But Mingo knows there are more games to win and more ladders to climb.
"This feels real good," he said, "but we want to cut that net down two more times."
The junior point guard scored nine of his 24 points in the first quarter as Farmingdale jumped out to an early double-digit lead. Mingo sealed the win with a three-point play off a feed from Jack Burke in transition to make it 53-40 with 4:30 remaining.
Curtis Jenkins had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Kevin Petit-Frere added nine points and Navreet Dhaliwal had eight points and eight assists.
The Dalers, who advance to the semifinals for the sixth time in 11 years, missed the playoffs last season after featuring a starting lineup with three sophomores and two freshmen. But the on-the-job training they received proved invaluable.
"Everything jelled together this season," Farmingdale coach Jim Pastier said. "Once they handed in their jerseys last year, they wanted to start training for this year. That's the type of kids they are and it shows."
Petit-Frere hit a corner three to cap a 15-0 run as Farmingdale took a 25-8 lead with five minutes left in the half.
T.J. Danns helped bring Hicksville (14-5) within single digits after scoring seven of his 20 points in the third, including a layup off a spin move to cut the lead to 44-36 with 30 seconds left in the quarter. Pablo Segura added 15 points and Nick Petrucelli scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Farmingdale (14-3) will face Uniondale, which handed the Dalers two of their three losses, at 7 p.m. on Monday at Old Westbury.
Until then, Mingo -- who has netting from his freshman year hanging in his bedroom -- will look to find a place to hang his newest strand.
"Hopefully, my mother buys me a car," he said, "so I can tie it on the rearview mirror."
