Kai Jankow, Daniel Debetta lead Babylon past Mattituck/Greenport/Southold

Whether he’s taking a shot or dodging defenders, Babylon junior Kai Jankow is lightning quick with the ball in his stick. Behind him senior Daniel Debetta brings the thunder as a physical, punishing long-stick midfielder.

But, though lightning usually strikes only once, Jankow struck for five goals while Debetta provided constant thunder with four caused turnovers in Babylon boys lacrosse’s 13-7 home win over Mattituck/Greenport/Southold in Suffolk II.

“[Winning] brings a lot of energy to the team,” Jankow said. “A lot of confidence, too.”

Sophomore Henry Blair opened the scoring for both sides and gave Mattituck the lead just 1:27 into the game. Babylon then responded with 11 unanswered goals, with Debetta describing it as a “battle of the grits” after last year’s 11-3 win over Mattituck in the Suffolk Class D championship.

“We knew they wanted their get-backs from last year,” Debetta said. “So we had to come out at 100%, nothing less.”

Mattituck (6-5) seemed out of sorts throughout the first half, with cutters finding their way toward goal often unimpeded. Babylon’s attackmen were also terrific on the ride, forcing eight turnovers off clears alone with four coming in the first quarter.

Sophomore Colin O’Brien added two goals and two assists, and senior Shane Dellafranca’s passing maintained Babylon’s offensive pace as he finished with three assists. Senior Hayden Baudille also stood out on defense, forcing two turnovers. Junior FOGO Brady Shaw was dominant at the faceoff X, winning 16 of his 18 attempts.

Senior Dylan Cifarelli and senior goalie Andrew McKenzie (16 saves) helped Mattituck improve significantly in the second half, with Cifarelli cutting off interior lanes that were left open an hour earlier.

Babylon (6-4) now owns wins over both Suffolk Class D sides in Mattituck and Center Moriches. But no matter who the Panthers face, Jankow knows his next lacrosse debate always happens over the dinner table with head coach and father Scott Jankow.

“It’s fun, definitely a couple of arguments [over game film] at home sometimes,” Kai said with a laugh. “At home or at dinner it’s like, ‘You should’ve done this’ or ‘you could’ve done that.’ I’m like, ‘Alright Dad, I get it.’”

When it comes to on-field lacrosse, though, Babylon knows what it wants. That’s to get back to both the Suffolk Class D championship and the Long Island championship game.

“Our whole motto this year was a revenge season,” Debetta said. “We keep building off every game, and we’re looking to go all the way this time.”