Pat Healy leads Northport to victory over Smithtown West

For the second time this season, the Northport and Smithtown West boys basketball teams played each other even entering the final minutes. In the first matchup, Northport’s Pat Healy and Sean Walsh took over and led the Tigers to a win. On Friday, they did it again.

Healy scored 19 of his 31 points in the second half and Walsh scored eight of his 10 in the fourth quarter as Northport clinched the Suffolk III title with a 59-55 win over host Smithtown West. Healy went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final two minutes, his first two putting the Tigers ahead for good at 55-54. Northport (18-1, 11-0)  increased its winning streak to 16 games.

“My amazing teammates trust me to get me the ball late in the game to let me make moves and get open shots,” said Healy, who also had five assists. “We don’t let anything distract us, and we have the same mentality throughout the whole game: play through everything and just run our sets.”

“Every time Smithtown West and Northport come together, it’s going to come down to the last possession or two,” added Northport coach Andrew D’Eloia. “We made critical stops down the stretch and our guys came through on offense.”

Walsh drilled back-to-back threes to put Northport ahead 50-49 and 53-49 with just more than three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Mike Behrens followed with a runner and the ensuing free throw to get the Bulls within 53-52, and he scored again on a contested finger roll that gave Smithtown West a one-point lead around the two-minute mark.

From there, Northport made sure the ball was in Healy’s hands. After 15 lead changes and six ties in the second half alone, Healy sank six straight free throws and Northport got the necessary stops on defense to seal the victory.

“[Healy] was the difference,” Smithtown West coach Michael Agostino said. “We were in his face a bunch of times, and at some point, you just have to tip your hat and say sometimes the shot is better than the defense.”

Healy scored in spurts throughout the game, including a personal 7-0 run in the second quarter after Smithtown West took a 21-13 lead. Walsh finished with 10 rebounds and four assists and Robby Kennedy, Northport’s defensive stopper, added four points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Mike Behrens finished with 15 points and his brother Matt added 13 for the Bulls (14-4, 7-3).

"We make sure every day in practice we are getting it done and that we act like league champions," Kennedy said. "And now we're going for states."