Valley Stream North's Tristan Mitchel does a bit of everything to lift boys basketball team past North Shore
Valley Stream North's Tristan Mitchell goes up for a shot under basket against North Shore on Friday. Credit: Howard Simmons
Valley Stream North junior Tristan Mitchell prides himself on exactly what coach Michael McVeigh preached during the boys basketball team’s home game against North Shore Friday night: Defense.
Sure, Mitchell scored a game-high 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half. But it’s his four steals and 10 often-contested rebounds that makes him one of Nassau’s most dynamic two-way players as the Spartans pulled away to a 65-52 win over North Shore in non-league.
“It feels great after a rough loss on Wednesday against Roslyn,” Mitchell said. “We just came out, got back to practice and got our minds right to come back harder.”
Senior Vincent Rienzie looked unstoppable, gliding through traffic to finish with 17 points. Still, Valley Stream North only led by three at halftime
“We really focus on the defensive end, that’s where we’re going to leave our mark,” McVeigh said. “The offense is going to come and go, but we got to stay locked in on defense all the time. It wavered today — it wasn’t consistent — but we hope to improve that going forward.”
Junior Kai Jones drilled four three-pointers and finished with 16 points, helping the Spartans (2-1) outscore North Shore 11-2 and 12-4 inside the first four minutes of the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
“It feels like when I let the ball go, it just feels like it’s going to go in,” Jones said.
“Kai has been one of the hardest working players all summer, and I’m glad he got to show it today,” McVeigh said.
Both seniors Noah Obukwelu and Matthew Hunt were solid defensively as the starting five made up all of Valley Stream North’s 65 points. Sophomore Marco Camps supplied a team-high 15 points and had five assists for North Shore (0-2).
Obukwelu also got the crowd on its feet with a flashy no-look assist to Jones, who finished the chance with a contested layup. It’s moments like that which remind Rienzie just how much fun it is to play with his guys.
“It makes me so happy,” Rienzie said. “ . . . It’s just great to see because everyone cares about it. You see everyone working throughout the summer, in practice, so when you make plays like that in a game like this, you love to see it.”
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.
