Tavantzis Hits Six 3's in East's Loss to Longwood

Two weeks ago, Sachem East basketball coach John Finta was upset with the effort his team put forth in its 47-42 loss against Ward Melville. Tuesday night, he was happy with the way his team performed, albeit with a 61-34 loss to Longwood.

"I thought they played very well," said Finta. "We just have to get better at what we do." 

Inconsistency was the name of the game for East, who showed spurts of offensive power but were stymied by Longwood's talented offense, which never gave the Flaming Arrows a real chance to make things interesting.

"We played well in spots," Finta added. "We played well the last six or seven minutes of the first half. We have to learn that we have to play that way for the whole game, and not just bits and pieces."

Throughout the summer, East has been led by seniors Randall Colson and A.J. Tavantzis. Colson stood out on both ends of the court, especially on the glass, where he pulled down several rebounds.

The show, though, belonged to Tavantzis, who was held scoreless in the opening half but exploded for six 3-pointers for 18 points in the second stanza.

Tavantzis found the rhythm, wanted the ball and never looked back.

"I was wide open on the three-point line and I just sunk the shots," he said. "They gave me the ball on the wing and I just shot. I guess I was hot."

Tavantzis said when he's that hot, he just wants to keep shooting, and said he was sure coach Finta was just fine with him launching the ball from behind the arc.

"You want the ball when you're hot and the coach isn't going to yell at you, and you want to shoot the ball as much as you can, and I did," he said.

Finta was clearly okay with the senior's decision making, and said the team will rely heavily on his play the rest of the summer and this winter during the regular season.

"[Tavantzis] shot the ball great," he said. "That's what we need from him, and shoot and play with the confidence he did tonight. He did a great job tonight."