Boys Basketball: Strong finish after slow start for Wildcats

The Shoreham-Wading River High School boys basketball team overcame a slow start with a solid finish en route to its second victory of the season on Saturday. 

Senior Jason Curran scored a career-best 20 points, Doug DeMaio tallied 6 of his 9 points within a four-minute span of the fourth quarter and Ken DeGolyer sank a vital 3-point basket down the stretch as the Wildcats recorded a 44-38 non-league win over Comsewogue at home.

The victory snapped a mini two-game losing streak as Shoreham (2-2) completed its first three-games-in-five-days stretch of the season.

The Wildcats stumbled from the opening tipoff as they failed to get a shot in the opening 2 minutes 9 seconds, making four turnovers during that span. The Warriors (0-5) grabbed leads of 5-0 and 7-2.

The Wildcats committed nine turnovers in that period. They did get their act together the rest of the game, making only 10 turnovers in the remaining third quarters.

That allowed the hosts to keep things close as the lead see-sawed back and forth until they pulled away in the fourth quarter.

After Curran sank a driving layup and Kieran Qualley hit a free throw to lift Shoreham to a 32-31 edge with 6:30 remaining in the game, David Heller (8 points) put the Warriors into a 35-32 lead with back-to-back baskets.

That’s when DeMaio took center stage. He hit a 10-foot shot to close the gap at 35-34 with 4:45 left and turned a Comsewogue turnover into a layup and a 36-35 advantage the Wildcats never relinquished.

DeGolyer sank his only basket of the game, a 3-point shot from the right corner with 2:21 remaining for a 39-35 lead with 2:21 to go.

After Comsewogue was called for a 35-second violation, DeMaio put in his own rebound for a comfortable 41-35 margin with 47.7 seconds left.

Shoreham freshman Liam Mahoney scored 6 points and finished with a team-high nine rebounds. Curran and DeMaio added seven rebounds apiece.

Mike Stiles led Comsewogue with 12 points while Dylan Cervini added 11.

Photo credit: Shoreham-Wading River’s Doug DeMaio floats a shot over the reach of Comsewogue’s David Heller. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)