Sullivan leads W. Babylon to AA final
West Babylon's Taylor Frisch (5) hits a layup against Longwood's Josh Taylor (24) in the second half. (Mar. 1, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Third-seeded West Babylon beat No. 2 Longwood, 61-52, at Stony Brook Tuesday night to advance to the Suffolk boys basketball final for the first time since 1978. The Eagles will play League IV rival Half Hollow Hills West, the top seed and defending champion, in the rubber game of their seasonlong three-game series in the final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Stony Brook.
A 17-0 West Babylon run spanning the first and second quarters, including 13 straight from Matt Sullivan (23 points), gave the Eagles (18-3) a 25-13 lead with 6:58 remaining in the second quarter. The lead ballooned to 15 on Taylor Frisch's three-pointer 2:52 before halftime.
The Eagles' hot shooting was a recurring theme, as they made 9 of 16 three-pointers, including Sullivan's 5-for-9 performance.
"We've played like that from a young age," Sullivan said. "Run and gun and shoot threes."
Frisch, who scored 17 points, said: "It's contagious. I don't even shoot threes and I hit one."
The only player keeping Longwood (18-3) from getting blown out early on was Tayquan Mayo (24 points), who hit four three-pointers in the last 5:07 of the second quarter.
But by the fourth, points were hard to come by for West Babylon. A 2-for-6 stretch from the free-throw line accounted for all the Eagles' scoring in the first 4:38 of the period. When Longwood's Josh Taylor made a bucket from the low post with 3:05 to play, the lead was cut to 54-49, the closest margin since the first quarter.
"We knew our 17-0 run wasn't going to stop Longwood from making a run," West Babylon coach Tim Lynch said.
A steal led to Frisch's layup, then Marshall Fairley (six points, nine rebounds) sank two free throws to extend the lead to 58-49. Chris Doyle, who totaled 10 points, made two free throws with 38.9 seconds remaining to seal it.
Longwood's offense was held to its second-lowest scoring total of the season, which Lions coach Pierce Hayes said was partially because of West Babylon's hot shooting.
"They shot the lights out," he said, "and I think that got into our guys' minds a little."
