Elmont routs Floral Park in Class A Quarterfinals 76-55

Gregory Giaconelli
Floral Park senior guard/forward T.J. Cluess (Photo by Gregory Giaconelli)

The top-seeded Elmont Spartans defeated the eighth seed Floral Park Knights 76-55 in the Nassau Class A quarterfinal game on Thursday afternoon, led by K.C Ndefo’s 26-point game. Ndefo scored 15 of his points in the third quarter while Vincent McDonald posted 12 points for Elmont.

T.J. Cluess led Floral Park with 23 points while Brian Fox recorded 13 points.

Floral Park head coach Sean Boyle said they didn’t shoot the ball well and couldn’t come up with as many stops as they needed to in order to be successful.

“Elmont was the better team,” Boyle said. “I thought we did a nice job on stopping Victor Olawoye but we didn’t with K.C. He did everything he wanted to do, whenever he wanted to.”

Elmont outscored Floral Park 19-13 in the opening quarter.

McDonald led Elmont with nine points in the first quarter. He hit three shots from the interior and sank a shot from outside the paint.

Fox led Floral Park with nine points, in which he shot for three field goals and went 3-3 on the line.

Floral Park junior guard Brian Fox (Photo by Gregory Giaconelli)
Floral Park junior guard Brian Fox (Photo by Gregory Giaconelli)

In the second quarter, Elmont outplayed Floral Park 14-9 and took a 33-22 lead into halftime.

Conrad Ihaza led Elmont with five points.

Cluess led Floral Park in the second quarter with six points. He hit a couple of baskets and went 2-2 on the line.

Elmont stifled Floral Park 19-7 in the third quarter and took a commanding 52-29 lead into the final quarter.

Ndefo paced Elmont’s offense with 15 points. He shot from outside the point three times and nailed in three baskets.

Cluess led Floral Park in the third quarter by going 3-4 on the line.

In the fourth quarter, Floral Park had the edge 26-24 but Elmont went on to win 76-55.

Ismael Astasie led Elmont with nine points, all coming in the fourth quarter. He hit four field goals and went 1-2 on the line.

Ndefo recorded five points in the fourth quarter and compiled 20 in the second half for Elmont. He finished the game with 26 points.

Cluess led Floral Park with 10 points in the final quarter. He registered two shots from inside the paint, went 3-4 on the line and added a shot from three point range.

Cluess recorded 13 points in the second half and completed the game with 23 for Floral Park.

Boyle said looking back on the season, it was a year filled with many highs and they didn’t want the season to end on a low note.

“They’re a special group in my heart,” Boyle said. “I wish my seniors the best of luck and hope that my returning guys can get back to this point again next season.”

Floral Park junior guard Frank Phelan (Photo by Gregory Giaconelli)
Floral Park junior guard Frank Phelan (Photo by Gregory Giaconelli)

 

Weekly Boys Basketball Scores

Monday, Feb. 20

Kellenberg defeated St. Mary’s 61-59. Tyler Ramsey led Kellenberg with 20 points while Nolan Grubb added 15. Kellenberg head coach Jack McCutcheon was honored prior to the game, after earning his 150th win with the program this past Saturday against Regis High School.

Justin Brown and Liam Kunkel led St. Mary’s with 27 and 16 points respectively.

Chaminade defeated St. John the Baptist 74-41.

Michael O’Connell led Chaminade with 16 points and seven assists while Kellen Paradine added 14 points. Chaminade clinched a share of the regular season league title with St. Anthony’s and Holy Trinity.

Wednesday, Feb. 22

Uniondale defeated Port Washington 49-48.

Danny Ashley led top seeded Uniondale over eighth seed Port Washington with 22 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in the Nassau Class AA quarterfinals.

Rolando Meyers-Turner collected seven points while De’Shaun Jackson added six points and 12 rebounds for Uniondale. Xavier Merriweather and Evan Goldstein led Port Washington with 20 and 12 points respectively.

St. Dominic’s defeated St. Mary’s 77-53. Mike Vaughan led sixth seeded St. Dominic’s with 17 points over seventh seed St. Mary’s in the first round of the CHSAA playoffs. Rob Rossiter and Ryan Kelly each scored 15 points for St. Dominic’s.

Justin Brown and Pierce Perry led St. Mary’s with 15 and 14 points respectively.

Sunday, Feb. 26

Chaminade defeated St. Anthony’s 66-50. Brendan McGuire and Kyle Murphy led second seeded Chaminade over third seed St. Anthony’s with 16 and 12 points respectively in the CHSAA semifinals at LIU Post.

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