BY BEN STRACK
In the third quarter of a once-lopsided Thursday night battle, the Roslyn Bulldogs had tied the game at 27 after a 19-4 spurt. Scoring just two points in the first seven minutes of the frame, Massapequa came alive, setting the tone for an eventual 55-43 win over the non-conference foe Dec. 10.
Chiefs junior point guard Thomas Ammendola found Justin Lynskey for a transition layup, who looked to complete the three-point play. His shot caught iron, but Massapequa forward Gary Rettig grabbed the board, kicking it out to Ammendola who connected from beyond the arc to give his team a 32-27 lead.
“It felt great because I knew that gave the team a big lift and a confidence lift for me,” said Ammendola. “I knew if I hit that shot, everyone else would get up and we would execute off of everything. That’s what coach said, to come out in the third quarter and take their will. That’s the exact words he used and that’s what we did.”
The five-point trip was just the beginning, as a quick change of possession set up a chance for one last shot with time winding down. Lynskey relayed a pass from Ammendola to junior Chris Wasson who outran the defense for a buzzer-beating layup. The Chiefs had scored seven of their nine third quarter points in less than a minute, setting up a fourth quarter in which Massapequa hit 19-of-21 free throws to stay undefeated in the season’s early going.
Massapequa came out pressing Roslyn, looking to contain senior point guard Keandre Augustine and junior sidekick Omar Burns. Though Augustine hit a few three-pointers en route to a 15-point performance, the Chiefs held Burns to five points as the pair struggled to penetrate the lane and get easy points off the fast break all night.
Leading 13-4 after the first quarter, Roslyn came a little closer at the end of the half when Augustine hit three of four free throws after a technical foul on Massapequa head coach Martin Voigt. Wasson was closely face-guarding the quick point guard and was called for contact. Voigt didn’t like the call as he voiced his displeasure and received a technical foul that pushed the score to 25-19 at the half. Then started the scoring drought for the Chiefs before righting the wrong late.
“It was a lack of effort, lack of offensive execution,” said Voigt, a Massapequa native who played for the Chiefs in high school and has coached the varsity team for 24 years. “We had layups and just missed them and it gave them the opportunity to run their transition which they’re very good at. Thank God we made some shots at the end.”
Ammendola led the team with 15 points and eight assists—connecting on 8-of-8 from the charity stripe—while Rettig and Lynskey added 10 and eight points respectively. Six other Chiefs scored to complete a balanced score sheet.
“Our philosophy is, we call it ‘Chief Shots,’” Voigt said. “You’ve got to hit the open man, be unselfish and get somebody a better shot than you have.”
That ideology, along with spirited defensive leadership from guys like co-captain Dylan Nealis will be dire, as the coach who recorded his 250th career win against Plainview Old Bethpage JFK High School Dec. 8 said there are no standouts on this year’s team.
“We’re going to struggle offensively because in the years past we’ve had go-to catch-and-shoot guys,” Voigt said. “This is going to be offense by committee so when we miss the easy shots it puts a real strain on us but I think our strong suit is we have kids that will play defense and that kind of generated a little momentum when we got those seven points.”
Floral Park handed Massapequa (4-1) its first loss of the season Dec. 12 as the Chiefs begin league play Dec. 15 against Syosset.
“All the teams we scheduled non-league are similar to us, hard, tough-nosed guys,” Voigt said. “I think our AA-I is the hardest conference in Nassau…I think we’re prepared though.”
