At around 11:15 p.m. Saturday night, fire engines raced down Port Washington Boulevard, not on their way to a conflagration, but to a celebration.
They roared past Hinck’s Delicatessen and Salem Drugs as they rolled into town, soaring past the sad ghosts of the local high school’s basketball past.
A group of determined young men stomped on those ghosts, chewed up the past failures and spit them out whole.
The roaring trucks were greeted by whoops and hollers from residents who came out to see something that hadn’t been seen since two years after World War II ended: A high school boys basketball county champ.
Port Washington has done it. Finally.
The Vikings, who lost in the title game the past two seasons, made sure there would never be talk of a drought again. Top-seeded Port Washington raced out to a 20-point lead over East Meadow in the Class AAA final at Farmingdale State, saw that lead completely evaporate in the third quarter, but steeled themselves and held on for a 58-50 win.
“Coolest moment of my life,” Kenny Daly, one of the players who made it possible, said of the ride back into town.
“Definitely one of the best moments of my life, maybe the best,” added Cole Reyes, another big reason it happened. “To see all those students, and parents, and fans out there screaming for us, it’s just so special.”
For Coach Sean Dooley, who has been at the helm for 21 seasons, the relief was almost indescribable.
“I’m just so happy I don’t have to talk about a 79-year drought for the next 12 months,” Dooley said with a laugh. “It’s just such a relief and to see the joy that this has brought people. Looking in the stands, seeing players from the first team I coached here, and the older people who have supported us so much, the parents … It was just pure joy, seeing so many people so happy.”
In advancing to the Long Island Championship game on March 16 at 1:30 p.m. at Farmingdale against Suffolk champ Half Hollow Hills East, the Vikings (19-4) certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves.
For the first 12 minutes or so, it looked like the game would be a rout. Port Washington rattled No. 2 seed East Meadow into turnover after turnover while the Vikings scorched the nets. Daly (14 points) and Ryan Shanahan (game-high 20 points) were unstoppable as the Vikings built a 32-12 lead midway through the second quarter.
“It was experience, the great start we had,” Daly said. “We’ve been in this spot three years in a row, and we applied a lot of ball pressure and made them really uncomfortable. But we knew they were really good and it wasn’t over.”
The Jets weren’t ready to go quietly. East Meadow ripped off a 10-0 run to end the half, and suddenly, a mammoth deficit was sliced to 10 points.
“We were exhausted late second quarter, and Izaias Clemmons (10 points) got in foul trouble and he’s one of our two big guys,” Dooley said. “We were up 10, and we knew we were in a good spot, but we were upset we let them back in,” Dooley said. “We weren’t rattled, but it was more like we saw a missed opportunity to really end the game early.”
The third quarter saw more East Meadow dominance, picking up right where it left off. The Jets tied the game at 36 with 3:32 left in the quarter.
“I whispered in Cole’s ear, ‘We are not losing this game,’” Shanahan said. “We knew we could stay composed and get things back our way.”
The Vikings wouldn’t collapse. Not with junior guard Chase Kovar throwing his body in front of much bigger opponents and still coming down with rebounds, or with Cole Reyes doing all the little things that don’t show up in box scores.
“Chase just makes winning plays, doing all the little things,” Shanahan said. “No way we win this chip without him.”
With the score tied at 44 early in the fourth, it was the senior Daly who made two huge plays. He scored a basket to put the Vikings back in front, then made a steal and Shanahan scored on a three-point play, and suddenly the Vikings were back in front.
East Meadow closed to within 3 at 53-50, but a Clemmons tip-in and three free throws from Kovar in the final minute sealed a win that was a long, long time coming.
As the buzzer sounded, several players said they could barely think straight.
“Just surreal. A dream come true,” Daly said. “To do this for Coach Dooley, who wanted it so much, to do this for the town, all the support, it’s just amazing.
Now, the Vikings look for their first LIC since 1946 and, perhaps after that, a trip upstate to the N.Y. state tournament.
“I had 82 text messages when I got on the bus,” Dooley said. “Former players, other coaches, parents of kids I used to coach … it’s all just been such a supportive atmosphere and especially this group. I have such a wonderful group of kids. ”
