BY Joe Werkmeister | SPORTS EDITOR
They're the kind of shots that leave an opponent shaking his head, deflated, unsure of what else to do.
The Longwood boys basketball team has unleashed plenty of those daggers over an 18-2 season. Against Walt Whitman in the Class AA quarterfinals, guard Darien Davis delivered the back-breaking 3-pointer, swishing a long bomb from the right side as the clock expired on the second quarter to give Longwood a 15-point halftime cushion.
Game. Set. Match.
The Lions maintained a double-digit lead nearly throughout the second half in an 86-70 win at Longwood High School in front of a boisterous crowd of better than 1,300. Longwood advances to play No. 3 Lindenhurst at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the semifinals at Farmingdale State University.
"We hit one [3-pointer] and it seems like we always hit a couple more and just pour it on them," said Davis, who scored a game-high 29 points.
Davis has combined for 56 points in Longwood 's two playoff wins, which included an 80-58 win against No. 15 Smithtown East Friday.
The No. 2 seed, Longwood drained 12 3-pointers against No. 10 Whitman, all in a day's work for one of the best shooting teams on Long Island.
When asked who the best shooter on the team is, Davis didn't hestiate.
"Me!" he said, while bursting into laughter.
The evidence would seem to back him up. Davis, who rarely doesn't have a smile on his face, has hit at least two 3-pointers in 12 of Longwood 's games.
Paris Parks and Chris Green both drained four 3-pointers as well. Parks added 13 assists and eight rebounds. He had 10 assists by halftime, feeding many of the 3-point shots.
"I can't wait to play in Farmingdale again," Davis said. "The crowd is amazing. People going against you, people going for you."
At Farmingdale the Lions return to the site of last year's crushing county championship loss against North Babylon. To get another shot in the title game the Lions will need to get past a Lindenhurst team that likes to put up the long balls as well. The Bulldogs, who played in League II this year, won 76-64 against West Babylon Tuesday while hitting 12 3-pointers.
Davis said it'll come down to picking up their defense in order to advance.
"We can never do good enough on defense," he said, eluding to the one area Terry always gets on them.
Terry said he felt the team gave up too many easy baskets against Whitman.
"They got behind our defense a couple times and we got to prevent that," he said.
Whitman kept the game close until midway through the second quarter when the Lions started to pull away. The Lions led 31-29 when a 3-pointer by Green sparked a 13-2 run.
Myles Jones (18 points) scored back-to-back baskets to bring the Wildcats within nine. The Lions got the ball back with eight seconds left in the half after a missed free throw and Parks pushed the ball up court, finding Davis for the long trey that gave Longwood the 15-point halftime lead.
The Wildcats started the third quarter with five straight points before Patrick Piasecki converted a three-point play when he was fouled underneath after scoring on an inbounds play.
Whitman briefly came to life with a pair of 3-pointers from Daniel Guardardo (16 points) that cut Longwood 's lead to nine with 5:28 left in the third quarter. Davis answered with a strong drive to the basket to draw a foul, get to the line and hit a pair of free throws. Boggs was then fouled on a 3-point attempt and converted all three foul shots.
It wouldn't be the last time the Lions were fouled on a 3-pointer. Parks drained a three pointer from the left side and was fouled with 2:43 left. He sank the free throw for the four-point play, which wasn't the first for Longwood this season. Davis also had one.
The Lions played most of the second half without Piasecki at center. He picked up two quick fouls in the third quarter and had to sit with four. He came back early in the fourth and picked up his fifth foul with 6:05 left in the game. He played 4 1/2 minutes in the second half and still contributed 13 points.
"We play a lot of guys so it's not like it's the first time they've stepped on the court," Terry said.
Fabian Green came in during the third quarter and Elijah Tyler-Brown provided some minutes in the fourth quarter.
The Lions opened up their biggest lead midway through the fourth when Davis sank his final trey of the night to put Longwood ahead by 18.
The game had far less dramatics than the Lions' quarterfinal win last year against Patchogue-Medford, when Marcus Stroman banked in buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, where the Lions would win.
This time, the only dramatic 3-pointers came from the Lions.
joew@northshoresun.com
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