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Sports

Sachem North Drops Summer League Opener

Falls to Ward Melville, 58-32, in first matchup of summer months.

Chalk this one up to rust. Sachem North dropped its summer league season opener Tuesday night, 58-32, to Ward Melville at Centereach High School. 

The Flaming Arrows had difficulty applying pressure to the Patriots in the offensive zone while also defending against Ward Melville's talented perimeter shooting.

Sachem varsity assistant coach Pete Cafiso said Sachem will court a young team this summer as well as the regular season which begins this winter, and that growing pains are sure to creep into his players' games.

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"We're a young team," said Cafiso. "We have a lot of new faces. There's some guys returning from last year, but the reality is they didn't have a whole lot of experience or minutes. We were senior-laden last year, so our juniors are stepping up."

Sachem had the hot hand in the opening minutes, draining several three-pointers. But Ward Melville stayed with the Flaming Arrows, and eventually took the game over, in part from Sachem losing its rhythm offensively.

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The Patriots opened up a 24-11 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Sachem was a bit sloppy in its own end, turning over the ball several times leading to Ward Melville fast-break points. 

Ward Meville took a 37-13 lead into the half.

Though the game was out of reach, the Flaming Arrows found their game a bit in the second half led by Alex Galdamez and Jayson Prudente, who finished with eight and five points, respectively. Cafiso said the team will lean heavily on throughout the summer and regular season with the departure of key seniors from last season.

"Alex is our big guy, runs the five most of the time, bangs in there a little bit and was able to do some stuff offensively and defensively for us," said Cafiso. "We're expecting big things from him this season.

Late in the game, Prudente brought down a rebound in the defensive zone and took it coast-to-coast for the one-handed layup.

"Jayson Predente is another one of our smaller guys who can be a shooting guard and a point guard here and there," he added. "He's just a good worker."

Cafiso said summer league games are difficult to gage, especially early in the summer, but was quick to give Ward Melville the credit it deserved. 

"I think part of [the inconsistency that comes with] summer league season and guys not really having a ball in their hands on a consistent basis," he said. "I give Melville a little bit of credit. They came out and made adjustments on shooters and closed out well."

Cafiso was optimistic about the remainder of the summer league, and expects his team to bounce back quickly.

"We look at it as this should be the worst-played game all summer, and we'll continue to get better starting Thursday."

1 2 F Sachem 13 19 32 Ward Melville 37 21 58
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