As the MacArthur boys’ basketball team prepares to salute its five seniors before its Feb. 13 regular-season finale, the Generals continue to produce wins.
Fueled by 13 points apiece from Kevin Roach and William Cheshire, MacArthur opened an early 22-5 lead and defeated Port Washington, 52-32, on Jan. 31.
The Generals improved to 10-3 overall and 7-3 in Conference AA-II. It marked the first time since the 2004-05 season that MacArthur had moved seven games over .500.
Roach and Cheshire as well as fellow seniors Tyler Eppich, Parth Joshi and Dan Svenelid have played integral roles in that success and will be honored before Monday’s 6:15 p.m. tipoff at home against Hicksville.
A four-year starter on varsity and a tenacious rebounder, Roach scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds against Baldwin on Jan. 6. He followed that with a 21-rebound performance against Plainview JFK. Roach is being recruited to play college basketball by Molloy, New Paltz and Moravian.
As a junior, Cheshire drilled a game-winning three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left against Division in the annual Jeff Shaw Memorial Tournament. A speedy guard and solid three-point shooter, Cheshire’s trey with 5:29 left against Plainview JFK on Jan. 27 provided a 40-39 lead and the Generals did not trail again.
Svenelid, meanwhile, scored a career-high 15 points in that game.
The Generals’ point guard, Eppich sank a three-pointer with 2:00 remaining against Calhoun on Jan. 20 for a 45-40 lead en route to 47-45 win. A week later, he hit three of four free throws in the final 16 seconds to cement another victory.
Joshi capped the scoring in MacArthur’s win at Port Washington with a three-pointer. A month earlier, he scored a career-high six points at Valley Stream North.
