Perfect Floyd boys basketball rolls past Northport to reach Suffolk Class AAA final
Floyd forward Jawuan Smith drives the lane for two points against Northport guard JoJo Cipollino in the Suffolk Class AAA semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Credit: George A Faella
Floyd’s quest for perfection will move to Suffolk boys basketball’s biggest stage.
The second-seeded Colonials played tenacious man-to-man defense for 32 minutes, allowing under 45 points for the 12th time this season, and got efficient offensive performances from Jawuan Smith, Jermaine King, Dahmarion Moses and Joey McLaurin in a 68-41 win over No. 6 Northport in the Suffolk Class AAA semifinals Wednesday at Longwood High School.
“We’re feeling excited,” Smith said. “It’s our first time being in the SCC all together.”
Smith had 19 points and 10 rebounds, King had 13 points and six assists, Moses had 12 points and eight rebounds and McLaurin had nine points and eight assists.
“[Smith’s] presence definitely helps out, but I’ll tell you right now, his game is predicated off of the guys that are around him,” Floyd coach Will Slinkosky said. “If we didn’t have that shooter in Jermaine and Joey on the outside, if we didn’t have that presence inside with Dahmarion, if we didn’t have Jake [Yourison] and Jayson [Yourison] being able to do all the gritty things and the dirty work, his game would be a little bit different than what it is.”
Floyd (22-0), looking for its first county title since 2012, will play No. 1 Bay Shore in the county championship at 5 p.m. Saturday at Longwood.
“It’s been a goal of ours for the past three years,” Slinkosky said. “. . . Our main goal for this year was to get to that game. So the excitement’s going to be there, and we’re going to enjoy the moment.”
Floyd owned an 18-12 lead after the first quarter. An 11-1 second-quarter run extended the Colonials’ lead to 15, and Floyd led 33-20 by halftime. Smith had 13 points in the first half.
Floyd stretched its lead to 52-31 by the end of the third quarter.
Owen Boylan and Jojo Cipollino each scored nine points for Northport (14-8), which had nine players score. The two teams also met this season in a non-league game at Smithtown East on Dec. 29, a 14-point Floyd win.
“Obviously, it stings when you get this far and it ends abruptly, and that’s the cruel part of sports,” Northport coach Andrew D’Eloia said. “You’re watching eight seniors’ careers end quickly. But on this particular day, you have to give all the credit in the world to Floyd.”
Floyd knows it gets its opponent’s best shot each night, but the Colonials have thrived in keeping doubts on the outside.
“They are family,” Slinkosky said. “And when the going gets tough, they step up. They fight through adversity because they have each other’s back.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.