Carle Place defeats JV boys

Alex Graffagnino recovers a loose ball in the JV game against Carle Place on Saturday.

Saturday was another tough non-league matchup for the junior varsity Indians, who fell to Carle Place 47-18. They’re having a hard time finding their stride this season, having lost four games including Tuesday’s league opener against Pierson (33-24).


The two teams traded points early in the first quarter, with Jimmy Read getting the team on the scoreboard with a layup 1:10 into the game and then another basket a couple of minutes later. But Carle Place began to find their rhythm, hitting point after point and taking advantage of frequent Shelter Island fouls to score 27 points to Shelter Island’s 7 by the end of the first half.


Shelter Island picked things up in the second half, putting another 11 points on the board, but it wasn’t enough to top Carle Place’s 23. Still, they fought hard all the way to the buzzer, diving on loose balls and battling for every point.


In the end, it seemed Shelter Island was simply out-matched. “I felt they were probably more athletic than we were, probably a little further advanced than we were, a little quicker to the ball,” said JV Coach Jay Card.


One of the difficulties may have had to do with the teams having similar plays. “That’s Carle Place, the school where Jim [Colligan] taught,” said Coach Card, “and they’re running the exact same stuff we’re running.” Jim Colligan is now a volunteer coach for the Indians. 


But the boys are starting to pull things together. “There were a lot of good passes, some better defense,” said Coach Card. He has hopes for improvement in future games: “We’re still moving in the right direction, I think.”


Watch them give it another shot in today’s away game against Ross at 4:30 p.m., their last game before the new year.