Titans Blow Past Bo Manor, Will Meet Western Tech in Region Finals

Throughout the season, New Town head coach Mike Salapata has hammered home to his team that when they share the basketball, they are awfully tough to beat.

In Thursday night’s Class 1A North semifinal against Bohemia Manor, the Titans did just that.

Led by a team-high 16 points from senior forward Devron Goodwyn, nine New Town players factored into the scorebook—including five with at least nine points—as the Titans dished, drove and dunked their way to an 86-34 victory.

Senior Jalen Clarke tallied 15 points and junior C.J. Jacob added 10 for a Titans squad that heaped on the defensive pressure early and turned the matchup into a virtual layup line from the get-go.

After storming out on an 18-0 run, New Town (18-6) extended the lead to 24-1 before Bohemia Manor’s Dom Holmes (game-high 17 points) sank a three-pointer—the Eagles first field goal of the game—with 37 seconds to play in the first quarter.

When Bohemia Manor (12-12) clawed back within 17—their smallest deficit of the entire game—early in the second quarter, the Titans put together a lightening quick 8-0 spurt to swell the lead to 25.

Chris Wallace’s thunderous dunk in transition to cap off the second quarter ignited a light but spirited, home crowd and, more importantly, put the Titans ahead by a comfortable 30 points going into the break.

New Town will travel to Western Tech (Saturday, 3 p.m.) with their sights set on a region title that narrowly eluded them a year ago.

“We’ve talked about putting that banner up,” Salapata said after the game. “Last year, I think everybody [on the current team] was with us, and that still sticks in our crawl a little bit. I think everyone’s ready to go.”  

BOX SCORE

New Town 86, Bohemia Manor 34

NT  24 21 19 22 ---- 86

BM 6   9   9    19 ---- 34

NT – Goodwyn 16, Clarke 15, Jacob 10, Wallace 9, Jones 9, Magginson 6, Gerard 6, Wainwright 5, Shand 4.

BM – Holmes 17, Smith 6, Clifton 4, Willis 3, Henry 2, Smith 6, Willis 3, Bilsak 2.