Syosset tops Massapequa, keeps eye on Nassau Class AA title
Man AbuSaab of Syosset, left, celebrates with brother AJ AbuSaab after Syosset's 63-50 win over Massapequa in a Nassau Conference AA-1 boys basketball game played at Syosset on Friday. Credit: James Escher
Syosset didn’t lose until its last game last season, a four-point setback against Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK in the Nassau AA semis at Hofstra. And it stung.
Now it’s fuel. This basketball team is bent on finishing the job.
“Actually, it’s been talked about every day,” said AJ AbuSaab, Syosset’s standout junior point guard. “It really broke our hearts last year because we had a really good team … And we lost to a team that we beat during the regular season.
“This year, it’s just been like a revenge tour. Every single day, I’ve been telling the guys, ‘We want to do this for revenge.’ We want to go back to Hofstra. We want to win, bring counties to Syosset.”
The fate of the revenge tour is still a ways off. But Syosset looks formidable. Take its home game Friday night. It beat Massapequa, 63-50, with first place at stake in Nassau AA-I.
Syosset had led by a half game. But AbuSaab scored 25 and Amare Jordan contributed 14, helping Syosset improve to 6-1 in the conference and 13-2 overall. Massapequa, which was topped by Giuliano Camporini’s 18, fell to 5-3 and 8-7 overall.
“This year, the ability with our starting five, where all five of them can handle the basketball, that’s our strength,” Syosset coach Greg Cardona said.
Jordan scored eight, all inside, and Syosset owned a 20-9 lead after one quarter.
“You come watch our game and you say, ‘Hey, that guy helps us in every single way,’ ” Cardona said of the junior forward.
Syosset closed the half with a 10-0 run, good for a 36-20 advantage. AbuSaab scored six in the burst, including a layup off his steal.
“He was just the best player on the court tonight,” Cardona said.
The transition game really boosted Syosset. AbuSaab fit in well.
“Coach always tells me I’m the best transition player he’s ever seen,” AbuSaab said.
By the end of three, Massapequa trailed 51-31.
Massapequa has still won five of its last seven. Coach Chris Cafiero’s team also lost its last game last season, against Farmingdale, ending its hope of making the playoffs.
“We’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t make the playoffs with how hard we play and how hard we work,” Cafiero said. “That’s been our goal since we sat in the locker room at Farmingdale last year as an entire team … to make a run this year to get into the playoffs.”
