West Islip Drops Season Opener to Rival East Islip, 53-44

Evan Maxwell's 6-feet-7-inch frame proved to be too much for the Lions Wednesday night in their season opening game against archrival East Islip.

His 30 points and 15 rebounds didn't hurt either.

Maxwell led the Redmen (3-0) to a 53-44 victory, accounting for 56 percent of his team's scoring.

"Playing against a 6-foot-7 kid is very tough," said West Islip head coach Tom Cross. "He's one of the best players right now in the county."

The Lions were paced offensively by James Tucci, who went 7-for-10 from beyond the arch, but had their biggest run of the game when Tucci was on the bench in the second quarter.

Trailing 17-9, Tucci was subbed out for Joe Watson. Watson immediately came in and sparked the Lions on both sides of the ball, scoring six points in a 10-0 run. West Islip held the Redmen without a basket until 1:34 left in the half, a streak that lasted nearly five full minutes.

Tucci returned and drained another three pointer with 20 seconds to play before halftime to give the Lions a 22-21 advantage at the break.

"He can shoot the ball," said Cross of Tucci. "There's no doubt about it. He can extend zones, he can extend man to man. He's got range."

From there, it was all Maxwell. The Lions had no answer for his ability to draw fouls and get to the free throw line, where he converted on  17 of his 21 attempts.

Steven Frost added four of his nine points in the third quarter, which along with Maxwell's six, helped stake the Redmen to a nine-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

"Most people thought we were going to come into this game and get whacked," said Cross. "First game of the season, I couldn't be more proud of them. We're vertically challenged obviously, but we hung in there and we fought. To me that's the most important thing. We'll be ready on Saturday."

West Islip scoring:

East Islip scoring: