Port Washington boys basketball team beats Farmingdale on Billy Edelstein's buzzer-beating three-pointer

Billy Edelstein of Port Washington, second from left, gets mobbed by teammates after hitting a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Vikings to a 48-45 win over host Farmingdale in a Nassau Conference AAA-II boys basketball on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. Credit: James Escher
The score was tied, 4.9 seconds to go, Port Washington set to inbound in the frontcourt inside Farmingdale’s gym.
Let’s just say the Vikings needed a big shot and a big lift in their collective confidence. Injury and illness had impacted them lately.
Well, Billy Edelstein gave them that big shot and big lift Thursday night.
Edelstein inbounded to Chase Kovar, who drove and kicked it out up top, above the arc, back to Edelstein. Two Dalers were there, but the reserve point guard had to attempt the three-pointer.
In the air. Off the glass. In the basket at the buzzer. Edelstein’s only points of the game.
Cue the celebration. Port Washington 48, Farmingdale 45.
“It’s surreal,” Edelstein said. “Being out there with my teammates and hitting that, it’s just amazing, especially on the road against, I'd say, probably our rival.”
The Nassau League AAA-II-leading Vikings (13-4, 9-1), county finalists in AA in 2023 and AAA in 2024, had lost 6-6 senior forward Jake VanderPutten to a torn ACL on Jan. 18. Senior guard Cole Reyes was down with the flu for the second straight game, having missed Tuesday’s loss to second-place East Meadow.
“I think we kind of took a little bit of a hit confidence-wise after [VanderPutten] being hurt, Cole being sick at East Meadow, losing that game,” coach Sean Dooley said. “We haven’t been playing our best the last couple of games.
“ . . . Getting a win like that I think is something we needed just to kind of get us back into a little bit more of a positive mindset.”
Farmingdale (10-5, 5-4) was powered by Jake Mangio’s 25 points.
The senior guard gave the Dalers a 31-24 lead in the third quarter with a three-pointer and a 43-35 advantage on a jumper with 4:14 left, his final points.
Then Vikings senior guard Kenny Daly scored six of his 17 in a 10-2 run that tied it at 45-45.
Farmingdale turned the ball over with 22.7 seconds left, leading to Edelstein’s winner.
“Sometimes the ball just goes in,” Dalers coach Jim Pastier said. “We defended it well.”
Daly could take pride in his defense against Mangio in the final four minutes.
“Last year, I was a lockdown defender,” Daly said. “This year, I’ve been a little bit slack in that area. So I knew in the last minutes I had to get that back and shut down their best player.”