SELDEN—It was nearly 100 degrees outside and 90-plus in the gymnasium of Newfield High School Tuesday evening, but those fans who endured the high temperatures were treated to an entertaining boys' basketball game between Patchogue-Medford and Longwood.
Patchogue-Medford ran out to an early lead, but Longwood eventually took control for good in the latter part of the second half. The Raiders battled down the stretch, getting to within five points of the Lions, but Longwood finished with a 53-45 victory in Town of Brookhaven Summer League action.
For Patchogue-Medford coach Will Dortonne, the Raiders' third game of the summer season was a big step forward, mostly because he finally had a full team to work with. Pat-Med — which, like many summer teams often competes for its athletes' time with other sports — had to forfeit its first game of the season and then lost to Sachem East, 44-34, with a depleted lineup on July 1.
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Dortonne saw good things from a team featuring experience in the backcourt in guards Severio Ford and Ahmad Williams, who are leading a group made up of mostly fresh faces.
"I liked that everybody showed up," Dortonne said with a laugh. "We have a lot of young guys that don't really know our system yet, and we were still able to incorporate them into what we were doing. And for the first time for them playing together, they did pretty well. They held their own against a pretty decent team."
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Williams led the Raiders with 14 points, scoring nine in the second half. Ford was next with 11, followed by Sam Rozzi with 6 points.
Pat-Med outplayed Longwood for much of the opening half, taking an 11-4 lead when Ford delivered a no-look pass to Rozzi for a fast-break layup. A drive by Ford upped the Raiders' lead to eight, 19-11, and then Williams followed with a steal and a layup to give the Raiders their biggest lead of the game, 21-11.
Longwood chipped away in the latter minutes of the half. Amir Sims drained a free throw for Pat-Med with two minutes left to give the Raiders a 25-19 lead, but the Lions closed out the half with six points to tie the score at the break.
Longwood opened the second half with a three-pointer, but the Raiders regained the lead on a drive by Williams. Pat-Med led by as many as four points before a 15-3 Longwood run put the Lions ahead to stay.
Dortonne, who also coaches the Pat-Med varsity boys' basketball team, said the summer season gives him an idea of what the Raiders will have when the high school season begins at the end of the year.
He described his players as "gym rats" who will continue to hone their skills in the summer games and at open gym sessions.
"Basketball is a sport that you've got to play," Dortonne said. "If you don't play, you're way behind. So the more they play, the better they get. Every opportunity we get them to play, it benefits them."
