Valley Stream North boys basketball holds on to top Friends Academy in Nassau Class A quarterfinals
Vincent Rienzie scores another two points for Valley Stream North during a Nassau Class A boys basketball quarterfinal against host Friends Academy on Thursday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Sophomore Tristan Mitchell and junior Vin Rienzie have a palpable bond in the Valley Stream North backcourt.
“It’s pretty fun,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been playing with him my whole high school [and] middle school career. So we built a great chemistry, and it’s just fun playing with him every day at practice.”
Said Rienzie: “It’s very special, actually. It’s more than just basketball. We’re with each other all the time off the court, and then on the court it just helps build chemistry. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”
The guards lifted the No. 7 Spartans to a 58-51 road win over No. 2 Friends Academy, the reigning Long Island Class A boys basketball champion, in the Nassau Class A quarterfinals Thursday afternoon.
Mitchell scored 22 points and made all eight of his fourth-quarter free throws. Rienzie scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half.
“They’re just such good kids, and they play so hard and they just care so much,” VSN coach Mike McVeigh said. “This whole team, they’re such nice kids to coach every day. As a coach, you feel lucky to go to practice and coach these kind of guys.”
Christian St. Amand added 14 points for VSN (15-7), which will play No. 3 West Hempstead (14-7) – the 2024 LI Class B champion – in the semifinals at 8 p.m. on March 5 at Farmingdale State College. VSN has never played in a county championship.
“It would mean a lot,” Mitchell said. “... Cementing our history, being the first ones to do it and hopefully being the first ones to win it.”
Sophomore guard Eyan Valadez scored 20 points, 16 in the second half, for Friends (14-7).
“Valadez is easily one of the best players in Nassau County,” McVeigh said. “He scored 20 points and we hope that we made it as tough as we could, but he’s such a good player that we just had to all be ready to guard him. Christian [St. Amand] had the responsibility to guard him for as long as possible, and he’s just a really tough player to match up with.”
The Spartans, who led by as many as 12 in the first half, held a 30-23 halftime lead and a 43-38 edge after three quarters.
Friends opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run, but VSN answered with a 7-0 run to take a 52-47 lead – which it never relinquished – with 2:16 left.
Jaxon Saulter’s layup cut Friends’ deficit to 54-51 with 58 seconds left. Mitchell’s two free throws with 32.1 seconds left and Rienzie’s layup nine seconds later made it 58-51.
VSN has found its groove despite ending the regular season with four consecutive losses.
“Even though we had a drought, we still came back and bounced back,” St. Amand said. “That’s why we’re here right now.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
