Elmont holds off South Side for county title

Top-seeded Elmont’s explosiveness, unselfishness, shooting ability and tenacious defense were all on display from the opening tip of Saturday’s Nassau Class A boys’ basketball championship game, resulting in a 19-point lead in the first quarter of its 62-54 victory over No. 3 South Side at Farmingdale State University.

The Spartans scored the first 15 points, including 11 in the opening minute, and held off a furious late rally by the Cyclones to capture their first county title since the 2016-17 season and third crown in five years. Senior Gus Louis poured in a game-high 21 points and junior Jonathan Maldonado added 12 for Elmont (18-4), which next takes on Amityville for the Long Island Class A championship this Sunday at noon at home.

“We couldn’t have planned for a better start and as it turned out, we needed every bit of it,” Elmont head coach George Holub said. “It was a great start but then we got into some foul trouble and never really got back into a rhythm.

“I’ve got to tip my hat to South Side,” he added. “They made some incredible shots and made us sweat a little bit.”

Seniors Eamon McGowan (15 points) and Quinn Shannon (14) led the way for South Side, which scored 26 points in the fourth quarter and got as close as 57-51 with under a minute remaining. The Cyclones (19-4) were riding a 16-game winning streak dating back to late December.

“They came out like a house on fire and we made a lot of early mistakes,” South Side head coach Jerry D’Angelo said. “To our kids’ credit, they not only hung in there but eventually chipped away. In the end, we just didn’t play as well as Elmont did over the full 32 minutes.”

Elmont’s lead was 25-6 after one quarter. Louis opened the game with a traditional three-point play and closed the quarter by nailing his second shot from behind the arc. He had 16 points at halftime as the Spartans led 32-13.

“We came up short the past few years so this feels awesome,” Louis said. “It’s the first championship for a lot of us and we don’t feel like we’re done. We like playing on this court and we’re excited to go up against Amityville.”

The Spartans, who hung 92 points against fourth-seeded Jericho in the semifinals, enjoyed their biggest lead over South Side late in the third quarter when senior Jevon Santos’ fast-break layup made it 44-22. Santos had eight points and five assists.

The margin was 18 heading into the final quarter but didn’t prove completely safe until Maldonado (4-for-4) and Santos sealed the outcome from the foul line. The Cyclones, who in the semifinals pulled away from No. 7 Manhasset with a tremendous second half, were still down 17 to Elmont midway through the fourth before a 14-3 run made things interesting.

“Some of those shots they made to get back into it, well God bless them,” Holub said. “It wasn’t like we stopped defending. They made difficult shots. Coach D’Angelo does a great job with those kids so I expected nothing else.”

Senior Isiah Barnes added nine points and junior Jayden Rayford had seven for Elmont, which won its 13th straight and finished the season undefeated against Nassau-based schools. Junior Owen Mullen had nine points and senior Jake Murphy contributed eight for South Side.

“We really started to find ourselves that last week of December,” D’Angelo said. “Of course we want to still be playing, but we accomplished a lot.”