The Island Trees wrestling team finished fifth at the Nassau County Qualifying Tournament. The Bulldogs placed nine wrestlers. Place winners were Mike Williams, Kevin McGovern and Matt Lorenzini, who placed sixth, James Scrimo lost a tough semi-final match and took fifth place. In fourth place were James Lyons and Chris Lorenzini. Julio Barea took third place as well as Matt Anderson. The two finalists were Anthony Casale and eighth grader Mike Cama, who both finished in second place. The wrestlers will represent Island Trees in the Nassau County Championships at Nassau Community College.

The varsity boys' basketball team had its biggest win of the season as they defeated Floral Park 69-55. Damon Moore had a season best game as he scored 15 points, including going 6 for 6 from the free throw line down the stretch. Michael Fusci did an outstanding job on the boards as he grabbed down 12 rebounds. Gerard Van Leuvan added 17 points and Jonathan Sguigna had 16 points in the victory.

The JV Boys' Basketball team won its sixth game in a row as they defeated the undefeated JV team of Floral Park by a score of 69-52. Rob Giovi led the Bulldogs with 20 points and Chris Bitetto with 18 points. Fernando Suarez had 14 points and 17 rebounds and Joe McCauley had six points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Anthony DiDomenico had eight points. The whole team had an outstanding game and looks to keep the streak alive as they play Jericho and Carey to finish up the season.

The Island Trees Lady Dawgs have ended their regular season games, going undefeated and placing first in their conference by beating Malverne, Locust Valley and powerhouse Oyster Bay. Leading the team in scoring is Lisa Macchia, Lisa Smith, Cathy Sbarra and Meghan Voss. Many key offensive and defensive plays were made by Tara Berman, Ashley Tonno, Elena O'Brien and Brittany Faherty. Key rebounding was made by Erin Carroll and excellent ball movement by Jen D'Albenzio has helped the team keep their undefeated record. In their final regular season game against Oyster Bay, the girls were supported by Rebecca Santoriello, Lisa LoFaso, Alyssa Fleming and Kate Schamberger, who were moved up from JV for the playoffs. This playoff season, the girls hope to finish what they started last year and come home with a championship. With all of their drive and determination, this team definitely has the potential to fulfill these goals. Good luck girls!

The seventh grade girls basketball team played a terrific game against Plainview. The two teams were neck and neck the entire game, but the Bulldogs managed to gain the victory. With a minute and 30 seconds left in the game, Lauren Mason hit a critical jumper for the corner. Her amazing shot put the Bulldogs up by three and secured the win. Lauren was the high scorer of the game with 10 points. Samantha Modik again played a fantastic game, scoring eight points and led an aggressive campaign against Plainview. Kate Tolan dominated the postposition. Kate scored seven points and pulled down essential rebounds. Jen Macaro, Dominique Witteck and Stephanie Irving each added a basket and great team play to the game. Elyse Aguirre, Colleen Cunningham and Leanna Andreu all played aggressive games with outstanding hustle. Coming off the disabled list was Meghan Sguigna, who played a wonderful game. The girls should be extremely proud of their victory and would like to thank all of their dedicated managers for their help.

The Dawg Pound was alive and well again as the eighth grade Lady Dawgs ran their record to 2-1 with a hard fought victory over Plainview. After a sluggish first half that saw a lead by only four, the girls came out and played aggressive Dawg Defense, outscoring 19-7 over the next two periods. The bench was emptied in the fifth as the girls cruised to a 40-27 win. Leading all scorers was Kate Beale with 11 points and 5 for 6 from the foul line. Grace Vinberg scored eight as she dominated the second half on the boards. Colleen Fenton guided the attack and added seven points as she swished, dished and drove to the hoop. Gina Brewer and Lauren O'Shea each had three, while with two each were Korin Jordan, Nicole Carrazana, Jessica Ostrowski and Gina Dziuba. The girls shot an impressive 12 for 22 from the charity stripe. The team doesn't play again until Feb. 27 when they will venture out of conference to take on the girls from Clarke in a 4 p.m. home contest. Mark your calendar, because this team is exciting.

g The Island Trees wrestling team had a barn burner against Wisdom Lane, 47-45, with the Bulldogs winning 11 of the 18 matches. The team used pins from Bryan Henriques, Bernard Loiseau, Chris Kellam, Tom Cipley and Terence Marciano. The Bulldogs also received help in some tight matches with decisions coming from James Habermehl, Evan Mastro, Joe Cusker and Bryan Henriques. The team has shown improvement in each match and looks forward to returning to action after vacation. Go Bulldogs!