The young Vikings team met with success last Friday, coming together for a decisive win against Seaford, 59-45. The scoring was led by senior Tim Schenkel with 23 points and sophomore Mike Frey with 14 points. Chris Galano's 14 rebounds helped North Shore gain control. Consistent play by starters Billy Melillo and Brian Occhiuto supported the team effort. According to Coach Girolamo, "As the team continues competing, they are becoming increasingly effective."

Earlier in the week, North Shore went up against Westbury and Sewanhaka. Westbury won with a final score of 71-43, despite Melillo's 19 points and Galano's 10. Schenkel had 29 points during the Sewanhaka game and Melillo and Galano each scored 14 points, but the Vikings lost 71-59.

The Lady Vikings started 2003 with hard-fought games against Cold Spring Harbor and Oyster Bay, playing up to the level of their favored opponents but unable to spring the upsets as they lost to both. Amanda Longobucco, Meredith Vogenberger and Lexi Pisciotto led the team in scoring, while Katie Degen anchored the improved defense.

The following week, North Shore traveled to Valley Stream to take on North High School, defeating them 48-42 with Vogenberger and Pisciotto each scoring 16 points. Then back home to beat Carle Place 56-33. Again Vogenberger was outstanding, scoring a season-high 20 points. Cori Gasser, Degen and Katie Cottell led a defense that held the Frogs to only nine baskets.

Degen scored a season-high 12 points, including the last four points to seal a 43-37 Viking win over Locust Valley on Saturday. Vogenberger continued her outstanding work on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds. Cottell was a key player in the third quarter, as she seemed to get every rebound and loose ball, with the Lady Vikings storming from a four-point deficit to take the lead. North Shore is 4-2 in league play.

While the team lost to Mineola and Garden City last week, many of the players continued to beat their scores. Ginger Schwarz again improved on her team-leading average with a personal season high game of 178. Melissa Papasidero had a personal best game of 171 to highlight her week. Danielle Uanino had a personal high game of 145 on JV in its win against Garden City last Thursday. The JV team also defeated Mineola, 6-5, with a 1-pin win in the third game of the match.

The Vikings tamed the Mineola Mustangs 6-5 last Wednesday, spurred on by the raucous wrangling of Joe Uanino and Jamie Collins. Right out of the gate, Uanino was determined to corral Mineola, opening with a 232 and closing with a 225 for a 622 series. But the new sheriff in town was Boss Collins who, en route to a whopping 684 series, sent the Mustangs to the glue factory by burying his last 11 strikes of the day to roll a personal high game of 290.

Thursday brought with it some hard times as Garden City threw a trio of 800s, defeating North Shore 11-0. The Vikings did not go down willingly, though, as Uanino and Collins continued to hurl big games. Uanino popped a 243 in the second game to make the contest close. Collins was strong all day, rolling scores of 206, 223 and 246 for a 675 series.

The team had it tough last week, losing to Island Trees 39-22 and tying Valley Stream Central 36-36. One of the key matches was Lyons from Island Trees vs James Doran (145) from North Shore. Lyons, the No. 1 ranked wrestler at the weight, won 2-1. Dan Carleton won his bout at 119 pounds and Russell Barbour won his at 130. Matt Grefe, who wrestled up a weight class, defeated his opponent at 152 pounds. One of the only pins of the match came when Robert Lynn pinned his opponent in the second period of the 171 lb. weight. Adam Brathwaite had an exciting match, defeating his opponent by one point at 189.

Several seniors and juniors have been out with injuries during the past few weeks. Ansel Werz, Peter Trieber, David Rahimian, Brett Sneider, Loren Pola, Robert Post, Harlen Borer and Matt Kaplon have been doing a great job for the Vikings.

Several team members earned medals and an opportunity to move on to championship finals as North Shore competed in the third meet of the Friendship Games at Nassau Community College last week. The following individuals medaled and placed in their respective events: Katie Jones and Brooke Cohen, high jump; Vanessa Levy, 600m; Masha Wolkow, 300m; and Maeve McGilloway and Avery Karlowich, 1000m.

As a result of their outstanding performances throughout the series of meets, the following young women qualified for the championship finals this week: Wolkow, Cohen and Jones in their respective events and Christina Galati in the shot put.

A job well done by all!

North Shore competed for the second time at the 2002-03 Friendship Games, a series of meets held at Nassau Community College throughout the season. Justin Musaffi started out the meet on a high point by taking swift control of his heat in the 1000 meters. After five laps, he still had the lead and finished first by over 10 meters. Chris Bauer showed great improvement in the high hurdles, finishing with a time of 10.4, almost a second faster than his previous best. Senior Peter Barbour took home three medals that night, two for his performances at the first Friendship Games meet. On that night, he placed fifth in both the 55 meters and the 300 meters. He also earned a medal in the 55 meters at the Jan. 8 meet. Senior Dan Kapuscinski ran his best indoor mile and received a medal for placing third in that event.

The finals of the Friendship Games were set for this week at Nassau Community College, so stay tuned!

North Shore defeated Great Neck South 101.5 to 80.3 last Tuesday, with Anita Shih and Joy Brigis stepping up and competing in an extra event to help the team score. Talia Haim and Jessica Lombardi were the high scorers with all-around tallies of 27.8 and 24.6, respectively.

The girls worked hard and some achieved their highest scores in Friday's meet, but the Vikings were defeated by Garden City 102.75 to 134.6. Lombardi achieved her highest career score on floor - 8.25 - and achieved her highest scores for the season on all the events, giving her an all-around score of 29.05. Isabella Vitti and Shih achieved their highest scores on floor for the season so far at 4.8 and 5.4, respectively. Sarah Koch scored her best on the uneven bars with 3.8. The Vikings' strong effort is evident and the team was anticipating its next meet against Hewlett this week.

Be sure to check out www.northshore.k12.ny.us/ for more sports and other district news.