The Island Trees Boys' Varsity Basketball team won its first Conference B-1 league game over Carey 75-55. A great all-around team effort over a very good, previously undefeated Carey. The team was led by Gerard VanLeuvan, who had 25 points, Jonathan Sguigna with 15 points and Damon Moore, who had eight of his 12 points in the first quarter. However, Island Trees pulled away in the 2nd half because of Michael Thompson's great play off the bench. Mike not only converted a 4-point play by hitting a 3 pointer, getting fouled and making the foul shot, he had 3 big offensive rebounds, which led to 3 baskets. This was a big win in our league opener over an excellent team, which will be fighting for the Conference Championship. The Island Trees Boys' Varsity Basketball team plays Clarke, Floral Park, Garden City and Division next. Good luck to the Dogs this year.

The Island Trees Boys' JV Basketball season for 2000-01 is underway. The Bulldogs got off to a slow start, losing close games to MacArthur, Wantagh and Port Washington. The Bulldogs entered the Great Neck South Holiday Tournament with a 0 to 3 record. The tournament proved to be a turning point in the season, as the Bulldogs defeated Sewanhaka in the first round and went on to defeat Great Neck South in the championship game by a score of 69-65. The Bulldogs have been led all season by 4 sophomores. After an ankle injury last year, Dondi Peterson returned to the lineup and has done a great job leading the Bulldogs in the paint. He has made great strides in his game and is expected to be moved up to varsity before the end of the season. The Bulldogs back court is made up of Chris Bitetto and Rob Giovi. Bitetto has done a great job controlling the tempo and handling the basketball. Giovi has led the Bulldogs offense, averaging 19 points per game. Giovi's athletic ability has proven to be an essential asset to the team. Joe McCauley has earned a vital role in the Bulldogs lineup through his constant hard work and hustle. Two freshmen, Kevin Fusci and Anthony Didomenico, have earned lots of playing time as well and are expected to provide offense throughout the season. The Bulldogs continue to work hard and look forward to starting up league play. The Bulldogs have the makings for a fine season.

The JV Girls' Basketball team defeated Locust Valley by a score of 34-19. The offense was lead by Lisa LoFaso, who scored 10 points and Jessica Galella, who chipped in with 8 points. The defense was lead by Kate Schamberger with 7 steals. All in all, the girls played aggressive defense and worked together on offense.

The Island Trees Wrestling team won its match on Alumni Night 54-15 over North Shore. The match was attended by over 50 alumni and friends. The crowd was estimated to be over 200 spectators. The team got off to a great start when 8th grader, Mike Cama, defeated 7th ranked Chris Hojonovowski, 4-2 with a last second takedown. The team then went on to win the next four weight classes, all by pins. The match of the night pitted highly regarded Jon Vitale of North Shore against junior Chris Lorenzini of Island Trees. Lorenzini got off to a great start by putting Vitale to his back and taking a 5-0 lead. Going into the match, Lorenzini still held a 7-5 lead. After a reversal, Vitale was able to catch Lorenzini and record the pin at 5:22 of the third. In their next match, Island Trees defeated Plainview 72-6, led by senior Anthony Casale, and sophomores Paul Wigdzinski, Lou Groner and Adam Macaluso, who all recorded pins. The team's record is currently 6-1 and faces a tough road match at Valley Stream South.

Congratulations to the Girls 7th grade volleyball team on their astounding win over "undefeated" Hicksville. The Lady Bulldogs came back strong after falling to their opponent in games one and two. Dina Vecchione had an amazing 18 points, Jen Reno with 6, Ciara Larkin with 6, Sarah Hess with 5, Michelle Topel with 4, Jill Rossi with 4 and Stephanie Irving with 2. Notable offensive plays were made by Meghan Doran, Katelynn Schmidt, Paulina Orellana and Sabrina Cervasio, while Melissa Donnelly, Jeannette Brand, Tina Bove, Ashley Davidson and Liz Badolato shined on defense.

The 8th grade girls volleyball team played an amazing game against Mattlin. The Lady Bulldogs fought a spectacular battle in all five games, but were unable to gain the victory. Some of the highlights from the game include Lori Brennan's instinctual and skillful save at the net in the fourth match, a terrific spike by Rachel Davids and deadly serves by Jackie Augner, Melissa Medina, Kate Beale, Michelle McGurk and Korin Jordan. Jamie Lent, Donna Braun, Amanda Cataldo, Gina Dziuba and Amanda Rossi all played extremely well and should be proud of their hustle. The girls look forward to meeting with Mattlin in a rematch where they will take their revenge and gain the victory.

The Island Trees Boys' 8th grade basketball team improved their record to 6-1 with a thrilling 53-51 come from behind victory over rival Bethpage. This was a tale of two games as the Bulldogs outscored the Golden Eagles 23-9 in the 1st and 3rd periods, only to be outdone by their opponents 32-8 in periods 2 and 4. This put the Dawgs in an unusual position of entering the decisive 5th period trailing by 10, their largest deficit of the year. It was time for Christian Salvage to have the finest game of his young career. Salvage went into a zone, setting an Island Trees modified record with a 16-point, 5th period outburst, scoring 5 field goals and 6-6 from the line in leading the charge all the way back for a 53-51 victory. Salvage would finish the day with 23 points. Pacing the Bulldogs early was Vincent Ciaravino, who scored 14 while ripping down 25 rebounds. Albert Wong played a very strong game, finishing with 6 points and 10 rebounds. Other scorers were Scott Truelson and Bobby Zetterberg with 2 each and Ryan Hollett with 6. Outstanding defensive games were played by Brian Spiess, Mike Topel, Mario Curcio, Brian Beissel and T.J. Fabis. With a very large and loud crowd cheering against the Dawgs, this was a very sweet comeback win. The boys never quit and walked away with a very hard fought victory.

The 7th grade boys' basketball team continued to improve in a loss to Bethpage. The team was led in scoring by Tim Dwyer with 16 points and Pat Sarris with 14 points. Sarris knocked down 10 points in the second quarter alone, to put the Bulldogs up by three to end the first half. After losing the lead in the 2nd half, the team rallied as Dwyer scored 12 points in the 5th quarter. Also scoring for the team were Matt Valinoti, Jon Pierro, Joe Ciaravino, Rob Hutnik, Cole D'Ambrosio, Marshall Trager and Brian Balvin.