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Ardolino.c om LongIslan dHSalonga omeConn Serving Smithtown • St. JameS • neSconSet • commack • hauppauge • kingS park • Fort ection.com February 4, 2016 631-941-4 300 of Smithtown
Volume 28, No. 49
$1.00
Smithtown scores league title win
Smithtown . . . . 64 Riverhead . . . . . .38 By DeSirée keegan
John Denver tribute at Theatre Three Also: Review of ‘The Revenant,’ BNL Science Bowl winners
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Virtual sports get real
Simplay sets up shop in Hauppauge as Long Island’s biggest sim arena
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It was four years ago that Mike Agostino took over at the helm of the Smithtown West boys’ basketball team, and since then, the team has come full circle. In 2012, in the Bulls’ last League III game of the season, they traveled to Riverhead to duke it out for the conference title, where Riverhead pulled away with a one-point win, 72-71. This time, the Bulls, at 10-1 heading into Tuesday’s contest, handily outscored the Blue Waves 64-38 to seal sole possession of the League III title. It was the first time Smithtown West had achieved that feat since 1968, according to Agostino. “I’m so grateful,” he said. “Winning the league title is almost as good as winning the county championship, because the county title is a result of a tournament, but this you have to play 14 games. Everyone knows us, everyone
knows our starters and our bench guys, everyone scouts you, so to be able to win a league championship is so special.” Both teams were slow to start, but Smithtown West junior Greg Giordano kept the Bulls in the game with a free throw at 5:32 to tie it 1-1, and followed it up with a 3-pointer at the 4:54 mark to knot the game at 4-4. From there, the Bulls charged ahead with senior Matt English knocking in a layup and Giordano netting another trifecta. Seconds later, senior Nick Grande swiveled around defenders as he jumped up to face the rim and tacked on a field goal, to help his team to an 11-4 advantage. “We came a long way since our first loss in the first of the season against Copiague,” said English, who finished with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. “We’ve really come together. We’re playing like a family.” Riverhead tacked on a field goal of its own to close the gap to 11-6 after the first eight minutes of play. In the second stanza, Riverhead scored a freethrow point at 3:59 to bring the BOYS’ BaSKeTBaLL continued on page a7
Photo by Desirée Keegan
matt english drives the baseline as he makes his way toward the basket.
County police tout plan to shut down drug dens By elana glowatz
Police will execute more search warrants and make more arrests at known hotspots for drug activity under a new initiative officials announced over the weekend. The same day police arrested a father and son and seized more than a kilogram of drugs from the father’s home, the Suffolk County Police Department said it is focusing more on shutting down houses in residential areas where drug activity is suspected to be taking place. That father-son pair was nabbed on Jan. 29, police said, after investigators executed a
search warrant on a Coram home and found 730 grams of cocaine, 318 grams of heroin, 36 grams of oxycodone and $200,000 in cash. It was just the most recent in a string of busts through the initiative, which uses detectives from the Special Operations Team “to work with residents to obtain information on who is dealing and where,” according to an SCPD statement. “Armed with that information, detectives will be executing more search warrants of drug houses and making felony arrests at those locations.” The effort is “fueled in part DRUgS continued on page a6
Photo from SCPD
police say they seized drugs, at top, and cash, above, from a coram home last week.