Port Washington boys basketball advances to state title game
Port Washington's Kenny Daly, right, drives to the basket against Jamestown's Gavin Johnson during a Class AAA semifinal at the NYSPHSAA Boys Basketball Championships in Binghamton, N.Y., on Thursday. Credit: Adrian Kraus
BINGHAMTON — The boys basketball team that claimed the program’s first Nassau title in 78 years and first Long Island championship in 79 is now in position to go after the ultimate prize — a first-ever state crown.
Port Washington received a career-high 23 points from senior guard Kenny Daly and a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward Izaias Clemmons on the way to a 50-39 win over Section VI champ Jamestown in the Class AAA state semifinals Thursday night at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena.
“Man, I’m just so happy that we can do it for our town,” Daly said. “I’ve seen so much support, so much love. They’re always at the games, always cheering. They travel all the way out here, so I just really want to get it done for the town.
“We're as confident as you could be. We know we’re a great team. We know what we need to do. And if we just play our game, I believe we can win.”
The Vikings, now 21-4 after their ninth straight victory, will find out Friday night when they face Section II champ Shaker in a final scheduled for 7:45 p.m. on this same court.
Shaker was blessed with a tying three from junior point guard Bless Demand late in regulation against Newburgh Free Academy in Thursday night’s other semifinal, then prevailed 65-56 in OT.
“We get to keep playing, which is the awesome part,” Port Washington coach Sean Dooley said. “I don’t know if it’s sunk in that we’re playing for a state championship.”
They are after surviving a Jamestown comeback. The Vikings owned a 10-point lead early in the third. But there they were, clinging to a 40-39 edge with 2 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Then Clemmons scored inside, and Daly drove from the right to make it 44-39 with 1:37 on the clock.
“It’s been a different guy every night,” Dooley said. "It’s a total team effort, which makes it so special. But Kenny was huge for us tonight. He made big shots. He made big plays when we needed them.”
Daly hit one of two at the line with 1:12 and 1:01 left, and Cole Reyes sank four free throws inside the final 35 seconds to create the final 11-point spread.
The Vikings certainly left an impression on senior guard Jaydian Johnson, the Red & Green’s leading scorer with 15.
“They play hard,” Johnson said after his team finished at 19-4. “They don’t gamble. And they take smart shots. They were able to outrebound us a lot and get a lot of putbacks. They were just knocking shots down.”
After Port Washington outscored Jamestown 19-11 in the second quarter to go up by six at the half, Daly keyed a 5-1 burst at the start of the third with a three and two free throws, making it a 31-21 game.
But the Red & Green, who fell in the AA state semifinals against Elmont last year, erased that advantage. They went on a 16-4 run to grab a two-point edge 1:50 into the fourth.
The Vikings responded, outscoring Jamestown 15-2 the rest of the way.
“We knew that if we lose, we go home, and the season was really special to us,” Clemmons said. “We worked so hard just to be here and we want to win it all and bring it home to our fans.”
