This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Plainview JFK Tops Port Washington In Boys Basketball Season Finale

Dozens of Plainview fans ejected from Port's gym at the start of fourth quarter.

Led by senior Benjamin Strack’s game-high 19 points, Plainview-JFK defeated host Port Washington 44-39 at on Monday night in Conference AA-II action. The loss dropped the Vikings’ final record to 1-17 overall and 1-12 in conference play, while Plainview improved to 7-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference.

The game was delayed for nearly 10 minutes prior to the start of the fourth quarter when approximately three dozen-plus Plainview fans were ejected from the gymnasium for repeatedly violating the Port Washington Sportsmanship Code of Conduct. Port Washington Athletic Director Stephanie Joannon was the senior administrator at the game and made the decision to remove the unruly fans. Later in the fourth quarter, two Port Washington fans were also removed.

“The visiting fans were being unsportsmanlike with their cheering and actions towards the court,” Joannon said. “They were told in the beginning of the game what our rules are, and they needed to be reminded about unacceptable behavior. They continued to be disrespectful to our team and the officials. After that, they lost their privilege to cheer in our gym and you never like to see that happen.”

Find out what's happening in Port Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Plainview took a five-point 35-30 lead into the fourth quarter and held off a late rally by the Vikings. Down by three points with under 10 seconds remaining in the game, senior guard Michael Murphy, who led the team in three-point field goals this season, missed an attempt to tie the game as Plainview held on to the victory.

“I’m very proud of our guys, they played a great game in a hostile environment,” said Plainview Head Coach Michael Harris. “They kept their composure from the off-court distractions and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Find out what's happening in Port Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Plainview’s Strack scored 18 of his 19 points inside the arc with the other point coming from the foul line to top off a three-point play. Junior guard Swayer Block led Port Washington in scoring with nine points on three three-point field goals.

“The result wasn’t what we wanted, but the effort was good again tonight,” said Vikings head coach Sean Dooley. “Over the last two games, our team played very hard and that’s something we’re going to want to establish on a more consistent basis going forward into next season.”

Monday night's game was Senior Night in Port Washington with the team honoring senior’s Josh Feshbach, Michael Murphy and K.C. Ozcayir. It was also the first annual Coaches vs. Cancer Night with proceeds from a fundraiser going to the American Cancer Society.

Hero: Plainview’s senior Benjamin Strack dominated the scoring and was the big reason why Plainview was able to pull away in the third quarter. He scored nine of Plainview’s 17 in the frame.

Turning Point: In the second half of the third quarter and trailing by a point, Plainview outscored Port Washington 8-2 to take a five point lead into the fourth quarter. They would not relinquish the lead after that point.

Quotable: “The juniors who will hopefully be back next year will learn from this season and know we have to work and play hard on a more consistent basis every day for the whole season," Dooley said. “Hopefully they’ll learn from that and we’ll be better next season.”

Bottom Line: Plainview was successful in spreading the ball around the court when on offense and leaned on Strack in the paint to score. Port Washington did not have an answer for him.

Key Stat: Strack’s 19 points was nearly half of Port Washington’s total offense. The Viking’s two leading scorers  – Sawyer and Michael Murphy – totaled 19 points.

 

 

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Final

Plainview

10

8

17

9

44

Port Washington

7

13

10

9

39


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?