Noah Shy lifts Valley Stream North past St. Anthony’s
Noah Shy of Valley Stream North shoots the ball against Jack Doyle of St. Anthony's on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
His name is Shy. His game is not.
Valley Stream North guard Noah Shy, despite a mid-game dry spell, was not gun-shy in the second half, scoring 10 of his 15 points as the Spartans defeated St. Anthony’s, 55-45, Saturday in the second of the five-game Public-Catholic Challenge played at Elmont High School.
“Coach is always saying ‘keep shooting,’ and he gives me all the confidence in the world,” said Shy, a 6-1 senior who added six assists and five rebounds. “There are certain times in a game that’s I’ve just got to make shots.”
Several of those moments helped VSN improve to 3-0 in a tightly-contested, defensive struggle. Shy made a slick scoop shot on which he drew a foul and converted for a three-point play and a 31-25 lead midway through the third quarter. He also drained a three from downtown, his only long-range basket, for a 41-34 advantage early in the fourth.
St. Anthony’s (2-2), which got 16 points from Tyrone Lyons and 15 from Jon Harewood, moved to within 44-40 before John Alimo, capitalizing on some excellent ball movement by the Spartans, got open for a three-pointer from the right wing. A minute and a half later, he drove hard to the rim for another basket that produced a 51-40 with 1:01 left.
“I was looking for that shot,” Alimo, who scored 17 points, said of his third trey. “Even though I was cold [he hadn’t scored since early in the second quarter], my teammates told me to keep shooting.”
Of his curling drive, Alimo said, “It was late in the shot clock and I saw a breakdown in the defense. I drove hard and shot a floater. Fortunately, I got a good bounce.”
VSN coach Dan Achatz said it was good to see his players get rewarded for their persistence. “We always talk about it: How do we recover from not making shots? We grind it out on defense and keep shooting.”
Taliq Abdul-Rahim added 10 points and five assists for the Spartans while Shamari Griffith had nine rebounds and was the benefit of Shy’s lob off an in-bounds play early in the third quarter for a crowd-pleasing, two-hand slam.
Shy had a much less flashy assist to Alimo in the closing seconds. On a two-man breakaway, Shy bypassed an easy layup and pushed a soft bounce pass to Alimo for the basket. “We’re all bros,” Alimo said.
“He was feeling it and had a great game,” Shy said. “I shared the ball and gave him an extra bucket.”
Nothing shy about that.
