After winning their first playoff game since 2005, the Carle Place Frogs had their incredible season halted by losing to Malverne 69-46 in the Class B championship on Feb. 20.
Head coach John Cantwell spoke glowingly about his players in an emotional postgame interview.
“These kids right here have paved the way for the future,” said Cantwell. “They always had that drive to get to CW Post—that was our goal every day in practice,” he added.
Cantwell emphasized that the team continued to have a cohesiveness that enabled them to keep winning and win over the attention of the student body and town—as evidence by the growing crowds with each subsequent victory.
“Lucas Golon, Austin Topel, Mike O’Connell, Alex DaCosta—all those guys, I can talk about how they individually did well, but it’s the whole group. The whole group. It’s very hard for me, because we’re losing eight seniors. They worked so hard,” Cantwell said as he searched for the right words to properly express his level of appreciation.
The Frogs finished the season with a record of 12-9. They defeated No. 1 Oyster Bay last Sunday, Feb. 15, 56-36 to advance to the finals against No. 3 ranked Malverne.
Unfortunately, it was a tough matchup for them. The Mules are incredibly difficult to matchup against—with two players north of 6’5” in the post.
Malverne’s Kevin Young, who Cantwell highlighted before the game as the single-most important player to cover in this game, was dominant. He scored a game-high 19 points—including 13 in the first-half. He added 11 rebounds.
Similarilary, Malverne’s Kazeem Martelly added 11 points and nine rebounds. At 6’7”, he poses a matchup nightmare for any team that doesn’t have the size to box him out.
Just as difficult to contain was their lightning quick guards—Chris Hackett and James Choisi, who maneuvered through the Frog defense and were able to snag several offensive rebounds as well.
“We knew we had to cover the bigs,” said Cantwell referring to the tall players on Malverne. “We knew about their speed. I told the guys—size and speed kills you. I knew it was going to be a challenge.”
Not only were the Mules close to impossible to guard, but their size and speed also caused havoc on defense.The Frogs rarely passed the ball into the low-post. It’s easy to understand why when you consider the size difference. Carle Place does not have any players that can physically compete with a 6’7” player like Martelly.
“They moved into a 2-3 zone. We knew they would either do a zone or man. It’s tough to rebound against a zone. We were living and dying by the three—but that’s what they were giving us. They weren’t giving us the middle too much. We had open shots—sometimes they fall sometimes they don’t,” he added.
The missed open shots were the main reason the Frogs were unable to overcome the early deficit. The Mules stretched their defense to the perimeter once it was clear that’s where the Frogs were shooting from. It exacerbated the importance of moving the ball that much more.
The Frogs did hang tough for much of the game—it only opened late in the second half. After falling behind 17-8 after one, the Frogs played tough in the second quarter cutting the lead to 30-22 when Omar Martinez (team-high 17 points) nailed a three-pointer.
After halftime, they did not get closer to eight points, but they did pick up the pace on offense. They benefitted from the Mules getting into a foul trouble. Golon capitalized on his free throw opportunities, as good players do. He finished with 13 points, emptying his tank on the court.
The Mules continued to play aggressive even when the game was virtually decided. They ultimately won by 23 points and were crowned Class B champs.
