The scores may not have reflected it, but the team as a whole performed its strongest yet at last Tuesday's meet. Juniors Emily Gonthier and Molly Zeins both stuck their beam routines, as did sophomore Sarah Koch, but the grand total for the balance beam was a mere 29.3, compared to Cold Spring Harbor's 39.7. The win went to CSH, 115.4-132.75. North Shore's next challenge was to be this week against Hewlett High School.

The team traveled to Fordham University to compete at a meet Jan.11. Chris Bauer continues to improve in the 55 hurdles, managing a good start and three-stepping the first two hurdles to finish in 8.9 seconds. Bauer is ranked high among junior boys and hopes to make All Conference this season.

Chris Manzi finished in the top 10 of the freshmen competing in the shot put with a throw of 35'2". Garrett Parnell also threw well and hopes to qualify for All Conference this season as well. David Freiman finished fifth among the freshmen competing in the high jump and took home a bronze medal. Newcomer Brian Doherty continues to show talent in the 400 meters and also ran well for his first attempt at the 55 hurdles.

The final score was North Shore 70, Oyster Bay 61 on Saturday as Billy Melillo scored 11 of his 25 points in a 17-7 third quarter and grabbed 21 rebounds for the Vikings. Chris Galano added 19 points and eight steals.

The win was a welcome one after North Shore fell to Locust Valley 63-50 earlier in the week. The Vikings were ahead after the first two periods, only to suffer a loss when Locust Valley came back strong in the third. Galano had 16 points and Billy Bowe had 14 points -- including three three-point shots. PJ Como, Tim Francis and Melillo contributed 8, 7 and 5 points to the Viking effort. North Shore is now 4-1 in conference play.

North Shore suffered a 45-39 loss at the hands of Carle Place last week, in spite of Amanda Longobucco's 22 points for the Viking column. Lexi Pisciotto had 7 points, including a three-pointer. Also on the scoreboard were Cori Gasser with 4 points and Katie Cottell, Megan McCormack and Meghan Schenkel with 2 each.

North Shore faced two adversaries last week: the weather and the team from Great Neck South. One caused a cancellation against Sewanhaka; the other came away with a win against the Vikings. North Shore came home determined to come up strong in two competitions this week, against Carle Place and in the end-of-season position round.

The Vikings have found their groove as demonstrated by their 8-3 victory over Great Neck South last week. John Bert crushed the pins, knocking out a pair of 200s (211 and 214) en route to his 582 series. Anchorman Max Azzarello threw a 567 and newcomer-to-the-varsity-squad Matt Collins contributed a 234 game, 558 series to the match. The JV squad also earned a victory, led by Eric Hnatov and his 209 game.

Go to www.northshore.k12.ny.us for more sports and other district news.