Port Washington beats East Meadow for first Nassau boys basketball championship since 1947
Port Washington celebrates after defeating East Meadow in the Nassau Class AAA boys basketball championship at Farmingdale State College on Saturday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The sound of elation reverberated throughout the Farmingdale State gym.
Seventy-eight years had come and gone since Port Washington’s last boys basketball county championship in 1947, and the previous two years seemed even longer after losses to Baldwin in the final.
But Saturday night ended in pure jubilation for the Vikings, who again can call themselves champions.
No. 1 Port Washington saw its 20-point second-quarter lead turn into a tie four times in the second half, but it ultimately never trailed in a 58-50 victory over No. 2 East Meadow in the Nassau Class AAA championship game.
“It’s awesome,” said Port Washington coach Sean Dooley, in his 21st season. “To have been here three years in a row and to know what it feels like to be on the other end the last two, we didn’t want to feel that a third time. And these guys played their hearts out. I mean, that was as tough a game as we’ve had all year, and diving on the floor — just making winning plays. So proud of them.”
Ryan Shanahan scored 20 points, Kenny Daly 14, Izaias Clemmons 10 and Cole Reyes and Chase Kovar seven each for Port Washington (19-4).
“It’s really surreal,” Shanahan said. “It’s everything we imagined, and it just really feels great to finally get it done.”
The Vikings led 32-12 with 3:41 left in the second quarter, but East Meadow (19-4) ended the first half on a 10-0 run. The Jets used an extended 24-4 run to tie it at 36 with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
“This is the way we’ve been all year,” coach Tom Rottkamp said. “Our main driver for success has been energy, and we never quit.”
East Meadow tied it at 44 on Izaiah Richards’ layup with 6:11 left, but Port Washington rattled off a 7-0 run. It led 53-50 in the final two minutes, and Clemmons’ tip-in with 1:26 left made it 55-50. Kovar went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 22.1 seconds.
The Vikings did not allow a made field goal in the final 4:05.
Port Washington will face Half Hollow Hills East for the Long Island Class AAA title at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Farmingdale State.
“I didn’t want to say I expected this, but after all this training, I think we really worked hard for it,” Clemmons said. “I’m happy the boys can [win] and bring it back to our coach and bring it back to the hometown.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
