Lynbrook Owls

LYNBROOK

Guard-oriented Owls reload

By MARC BERMAN

So what will Lynbrook’s boys’ basketball team do for an encore? “We really haven’t had a rebuilding year in a while,’’ head coach Jamie Adams said. “We reload.’’ Last season, Lynbrook was a terror, armed with two 6-foot-5 bookends in All-County center Haris Cekic and power forward Richard Correa-Lampasona. It was one of the best defensive teams in the county. The Owls posted a 15-5 record, making the Class A playoffs, though it was put into the 8-9 seed game and lost to Valley Stream North. Though the style will change in 2022-23, Adams feels the Owls can be just as powerful despite losing six players, including three starters. Cekic and Correa-Lampasona are gone but Lynbrook will now be a faster-paced, guardoriented team. Senior guard Eli ShermanMurphy, an All-County player who averaged 14 points last season, will return and is being shifted from point guard to shooting guard. Murphy is an inside-outside menace, excellent at getting to the basket while having a 3-point shot, too. But he will play less on the ball because senior Ryan Shapiro will be moved into the starting lineup as point guard. Shapiro came off the bench last season but did not get many minutes. He’s had an extreme makeover in getting much stronger after a season of football. Shapiro is a pass-fi rst guard and key to success. “He looks like Clark Kent but plays like Superman,’’ Adams said. Sean O’Donovan is the third guard. He averaged 8.8 points last season. The coaches are still designing the rest of the starting lineup and could go 11 deep. Junior forward Max Cordes is a favorite to start – a good 3-point shooter who defends well. Center Will Krapf is a new-age center – capable of shooting the 3. Brian Sugrue is another contender. Adams is also excited because he’s got three guys from JV he feels bodes well for the future – Timothy Mingo, Dylon Stanley and Amah Agwu.

LYNBROOK HAS EYES ON PRIZE

The girls may compete for the whole enchilada in Nassau Class A as head coach Steve LoCicero can focus fully on roundball. The last nine years, LoCicero held a dual role of head football and girls basketball coach but resigned before this season to concentrate soley on the hoops. Perhaps that’s why he seems super pumped about this season. That and the notion he has 8 of 9 players back from a team that went 14-7, upset No. 1 seed Manhasset in the playoffs to get to Hofstra, where it lost in the semifi nals. LoCicero, looking for his 100th career win (91-45), is reaching high. “This team could win everything - Long Island championship, New York State championship,’’ he said. “This is the best team I’ve coached since 2017 which won the conference championship.’’ The squad is led by point guard Kaelynn O’Brien, a top talent. But the coach won’t single anyone out because of the depth. Asked who is standout player is, LoCicero said, “I don’t have one. I have girls who legitimately can play basketball. That’s the reason we’re so diffi cult to guard. On any given night, you’ll have a girl with 15 [points] and the next night another girl with 15.” He also likes the striving-forperfection vibe. After beating Long Beach in a non-league, LoCicero claimed, “They asked if we could have a 6 a.m. practice.’’ O’Brien switches to point guard to replace the lone graduate, Kyla Nembach (Division II Mercy). The rest of the starting fi ve includes Caityblu Cavassa, Brooke Mazzei, Cate Jennings, and Tyla Vuotto. Other returnees are Jesse Bodian and Mackenzie Casey, who will come off the bench. Two newcomers who will add unprecedented depth are sophomores Kate Benedict, a transfer, and Sophia Dwyer. “We can do everything well — an inside game shoot the 3 and play great defense our speed and athleticism, ’’ LoCicero said.

Eli Sherman-Murphy

Shapiro is a pass-fi rst guard and key to success. “He looks like Clark Kent but plays like Superman,’’ Adams said. Sean O’Donovan is the third guard. He averaged 8.8 points last season. The coaches are still designing the rest of the starting lineup and could go 11 deep. Junior forward Max Cordes is a favorite to start – a good 3-point shooter who defends well. Center Will Krapf is a new-age center – capable of shooting the 3. Brian Sugrue is another contender. Adams is also excited because he’s got three guys from JV he feels bodes well for the future – Timothy Mingo, Dylon Stanley and Amah Agwu.

LYNBROOK HAS EYES ON PRIZE

The girls may compete for the whole enchilada in Nassau Class A as head coach Steve LoCicero can focus fully on roundball. The last nine years, LoCicero is, LoCicero said, “I don’t have one. — an inside game shoot the 3 and

Caityblu Cavassa

Schedule

MATT GUILFOYLEBOYS December

13 Wantagh 7:00 p.m. 20 @ V.S. North 7:00 p.m.

January

4 Bethpage 7:00 p.m. 7 @ Mineola 12:00 p.m. 10 Floral Park 7:00 p.m. 13 @ Plainedge 5:00 p.m. 18 @ Wantagh 7:00 p.m. 27 V.S. North 7:00 p.m.

February

1 @ Bethpage 5:00 p.m. 4 Mineola 2:00 p.m. 7 @ Floral Park 5:00 p.m. 10 Plainedge 7:00 p.m.

GIRLS December

13 @ Wantagh 5:00 p.m. 19 V.S. North 5:00 p.m.

January

4 @ Bethpage 5:00 p.m. 7 Mineola 12:00 p.m. 10 @ Floral Park 5:00 p.m. 13 Plainedge 5:00 p.m. 18 Wantagh 5:00 p.m. 27 @ V.S. North 7:00 p.m.

February

1 Bethpage 5:00 p.m. 4 @ Mineola 12:00 p.m. 7 Floral Park 5:00 p.m. 10 @ Plainedge 5:00 p.m.

EXPIRES 1/9/23 EXPIRES 1/9/23 EXPIRES 1/9/23

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