Sports
Seniors Take Center Stage as Winter Season Winds Down
Syosset boys basketball finishes their season Monday, while boys swimming looks to excel in the county preliminaries Friday.
Boys Basketball to Honor Seniors Friday Night
Although the Syosset Braves won’t be headed to the playoffs this season, coach Bobby Kopp remains optimistic about the state of the program.
“That’s okay,” Kopp said of the lack of a playoff berth. “We lost some tough games, some close ones, but we got great kids.”
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Wednesday’s practice was a spirited session, one that proved the Braves are prepared to treat the final two games of the year no differently then they did earlier in the season, when expectations were high.
“Their attitudes are great,” Kopp said. “No one is moping in, everyone is here on time. It’s all good.”
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During Friday night’s , the Braves will honor four graduating seniors: co-captains Jake Fried and Jacob Luft, and Dan Capetta and Henry Kozlowski will be honored.
“Fried and Cappetta are more the verbal leaders, while Luft and Henry are more the leaders by example,” Kopp said.
Each senior clearly carved out a role for himself.
Capetta excelled at running the defense. Luft and Fried provided the physicality that Syosset needed to compete while navigating through a tough Conference AA- I schedule. Kozlowski, who’s shining moment came in a win over Port Washington on Dec. 9 (six points), has played hard in practice and rebounded well late in games.
For these four, it will no doubt be a bitter sweet moment when they take their home floor for the final time.
“It’s been a great experience,” Capetta said. “This year really didn’t work out as planned, but coming in and working hard everyday in practice is what it’s all about.”
Although they won’t be on the 2011-2012 club, these seniors believe that the program is in good hands.
“It’s been a good year,” Luft said. “We made a lot of new buddies on the team, the juniors and the sophomores. They made a large contribution to the team. It was just a fun season.”
Syosset will close out its season on
Syosset Swimmers Hope to Thrive at Counties After Winning Title
The overall team goal is completed. That came in late January when the Braves topped Cold Spring Harbor to win a share of the Conference II title.
The victory means that a new banner will hang beside the pool for the first time since 2003.
“The team remained persistent,” coach Chris Schleider said. “They never gave up. We had a tough loss to Wantagh early in the season, and that never stopped the team from fighting for every race. That was what allowed us to get our championship.”
Now, the attention shifts to Friday night's county preliminaries at Eisenhower Park.
Eighth grade diver Nick Woska, who placed himself on the all-time Syosset leader board with a 185.40 one-meter performance last month, took ninth place at Wednesday night’s county diving meet.
“That’s a tremendous accomplishment for an eighth grader,” Schleider said. “He dove very well.”
Brendon Amberger and Kevin Sheehan also placed in the top 25.
Friday night's meet will feature two of Braves graduating seniors, and Andy Lee.
Holtzman will be looking to qualify for the finals in the 500-freestyle. Lee will compete in the 50 and 100-freestyle.
If they achieve their goal, both Holtzman and Lee will participate in the County Finals on Saturday at Eisenhower Park.
“It would be a great way for them to finish their careers as swimmers for the team,” Schleider said.