The Varsity Cheerleaders competed at the first LICCA competition of the season at Kings Park High School. Out of 10 of the best teams on Long Island, despite injuries, the Island Trees team finished with an amazing second-place finish that wowed the crowd. The girls would like to thank Coach Nicoletto for proving to them that they can come out on top. With two more competitions before the finals, the girls will continue to master their skills and finish their season strong. Come support them at the next competition at Kellenberg on Jan. 8.

In an indoor track meet held at Suffolk Community College, Christian Blauvelt from Island Trees finished first in the High Jump and fourth in the 300-meter run. Congratulations to Christian.

Excellent job by the Girls' JV and Varsity Bowling teams on their win over Plainedge. Great games were bowled by Sarah Strickland with a 162, Samantha Rooks with a 158 and Geri Silverio with a 190.

The Varsity and JV Boys' Bowling teams swept Plainedge. High games were bowled by Steve Frank with a 220, Dan Apgar with a 246, Ed Noblesala with a 257 and Adam Chase with 10 strikes in a row for a 289.

The Varsity Boys' Bowling team also swept Bellmore Merrick 11-0. The boys had a great day shooting an unheard of 967. The highlights were Dan Apgar with a 241 and Adam Chase with a 279 and a 799 series. Adam averaged a 266 for the day.

The Island Trees Girls' Varsity Basketball team opened their season in the Wheatley Holiday Tournament. The Lady Dawgs first round opponent was North Shore High School. The Lady Dawgs put forth a tremendous defensive effort, holding the Vikings to 28 points in a 32-28 victory for Island Trees. The defense was led by senior Gina Brewer, junior Samantha Modik and eighth grader Meghan Biondolillo. The offense was led by junior Sarah Hess with 10 points. Freshman Valerie Ahrens put the game away, scoring five points in the final two minutes for the Lady Dawgs. The next day Island Trees faced Wheatley in the championship game. The Lady Dawgs were once again stellar on the defensive end, holding Wheatley to just 27 points in a 33-27 win. For their outstanding performances in the tournament, Gina Brewer was selected to the All Tournament team and Sarah Hess was chosen as the MVP. The members of this year's Island Trees Varsity Basketball team are eighth grader Meghan Biondolillo, freshmen Valerie Ahrens and Angelika Paskins, sophomores Beth Hughes and Meaghan Davis, juniors Katie Tolan, Samantha Modik, Lauren Mason, Jen Macaro, Sarah Hess and Dominique Witteck and seniors Gina Brewer and Megan Carlson.

The Girls' eighth grade Volleyball team defeated Salk in dominating fashion, 5-0. The girls did an amazing job serving, getting 30 aces in five games. Jill Foster had four aces, Deanna Brown had seven and Alyssa Ambrosio had six. The girls also showed outstanding hustle during the match, especially Nichole Coradini and Danielle Hastings. The eighth grade Volleyball team continued their dominance by defeating Plainview 5-0. Once again the girls were amazing on serve, scoring 32 aces. Leading the way was Rebecca Burleson, Val LaSala, Michelle Duffy and Meghan Carey.

Congratulations to the seventh grade Girls' Volleyball team on their 3-2 win over Salk. The Lady Dogs played a phenomenal match, winnings games 2 and 4 and sealing the deal in game 5 with a score of 20-18. Tremendous serving was displayed by Jessica Beissel, Jackie Kupfer and Dana Colleluori, while Leanne Saracino, Elyssa Gullo, Jessica Pierre-Tijero and Samantha Wierzbicki moved the ball around the court with ease. Sylvana Rivera and Marisela Franco are credited with four successful blocks apiece.

The eighth grade Boys' Basketball team pulled out a close win by defeating Bethpage 42-41. John Thearle scored with 30 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 3-point lead and the win. Thearle finished with eight points and John Howard led the way with 12 points. Dan Nicolino had his best game of the season with four points and 12 rebounds. Matt Passatempo scored six points, Tom Hart had four points and Anthony Pascalli and Chris Hunt scored two points each. It took an all around team effort on defense to get the win.

The seventh grade Boys' Basketball team lost a close game to Woodland, 48-42. The boys battled back twice to overcome two 10-point deficits and almost overtook Woodland in the final period, cutting the lead to 4 with under a minute to go. The team was led by Anthony Ciaramitaro, who dropped a season high 19 points and had 14 rebounds.

Anthony dominated the boards and made great post moves all game long. Bryan Verbitsky played outstanding defense and added 12 points and seven assists. Bryan did a great job of handling Woodland's pressure defense and distributing the ball. Rob Castillo had a strong second half, dropping four points and grabbing every rebound while he was on the court. Rob gave a tremendous effort. Also scoring for the team was Pat Reilly, who added two points on a long range jumper from downtown. Brandon Garcia also scored on a strong drive to the basket and John Paskins added a foul shot.