The boys’ varsity team from Floral Park Memorial High School won its second straight Nassau Class A title on Friday, March 6, with a convincing 70-53 victory over Friends Academy.
The game brought the team up to a 21-2 record for the season, and created a chance for it to become Long Island Champions in a bout against Suffolk’s Mount Sinai, which overtook Floral Park in last year’s island championship.
Floral Park’s girls’ varsity team also competed Friday in the Nassau championship, but fell in a match against Plainedge. The team finished with a 17-6 record, and players said the season remains a success.
“These young people are tremendous athletes. Watching them complete is really just phenomenal,” Alicia Calabrese, the school’s principal, said. “They are great young role models. They take that role very seriously. They represent Floral Park.”
She said that even in the school building, they are role models to the community. She credits both teams’ work ethic and culture as well as the students’ character with the season’s success.
Boys’ coach Sean Boyle said that “brotherhood” defines the culture of the team.
“They are a very special group,” he said. “They really embody what the team is all about; they are brothers to one another.
“The team started off very strong,” Boyle said. “The goal was to win the conference, win the county, and then have a chance to rewrite the end of our season last year.”
The boys’ varsity team won last year’s Nassau County Championship as well, meaning this squad holds two of the school’s three championships in the team’s history. They will compete on Tuesday in the Long Island Championship.
“I think we all have a great relationship on this team,” Brendan Martin, another senior and captain, said. “We’ve built a brotherhood, and that helps us win.
“It was a great team effort, we’re just happy to get back to where we were last year,” senior and captain Declan Lally said. “Hopefully, this year we’ll take care of business in the Long Island Championship and not fall short like we did last year.”
Lally is committed to playing basketball next year at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Even though the girls’ side lost in the championship, the team considers the season a success.
“We all really helped each other out on the court,” Amanda Owen, another student, said. She said the team went further than they ever had and maintained strong relationships throughout the season.
“I thought it was a great season, and we can’t let that last loss dampen our success,” said Ashley Battista, a point guard on the team who will attend West Point next year. “This is the farthest we made it while I was on the team, and we’re really proud of this.”
“We had a bunch of girls really step up, it was a mix of older girls and younger girls,” said Siena McCree, a forward on the team who is also an all-county soccer player. “We bonded really well and made it really far, so it was a great year.”
“One game is not going to define the season,” head coach Michael Spina said. “The bonding that this team had this year was phenomenal, and to make it to the county championship with this group was very special.”
