A whole lot of people around here are aware that the Manhasset's 5th grade boys are an unusually versatile and talented group of athletes. Already they've recorded significant victories and taken home titles in a variety of travel team sports including soccer, lacrosse, baseball and hockey. Recently for the first time, a serious effort was launched on three fronts to expand this success into basketball. A trio of CYO teams were formed with the goal of distributing skills as evenly as possible. And with the season having ended, it would be more than fair to proclaim that this objective indeed has been achieved. Consider these facts:

1) Three St. Mary's fifth grade clubs were formed. I under omnipresent coach Jeff Molinari. II helmed by Jerry Amitrano and Bill Snee's III squad which advanced the farthest.

2) I and II competed in a very tough 11 team loop, finished the year 9-3 and qualified for the playoffs. Although each was ousted in the first round, Molinari's kids did record a 42-30 victory over 1st place (and overall Long Island playoff runner-up) finisher, St. Aidan's III of Williston Park.

3) The III kids traveled the longest road taking their journey into overtime before suffering a defeat in the second round of the Long Island playoffs to St. Martin's I (Bethpage) by 33-31. This gave them a fine overall record of 11-3 after completing a second place 10-2 regular season mark. We'll examine their achievement in detail.

Above all, the proudest achievement for coaches Bill Snee and Scott Levy was the fact that everybody was able to be given equal playing time. All 12 members of the team possessed reasonable playing skills and enabled the coaches to field generally balanced five or six man units (depending on injuries and illness). To be frank, virtually every opponent took the court with the opposite philosophy and wound up playing their top athletes 80-90 percent of the time. Therefore, it was particularly satisfying for St. Mary's III to enjoy such success with every player contributing.

The season opened in late November at St. Aidan's IV and it took most of the first half for the Manhasset boys to get rid of first game jitters. A 6-4 lead after one stanza expanded to 46-12 at the end. Agile center Kyle Smith, recently moved here from Massachusetts, poured home ten points as did deadly shooting guard Chris Martelli. Speedy John Hannan added nine while point guard Eric Kaminsky chipped in 4 plus a half-dozen assists, a couple of which drew oohs and aahs from the fans.

Game 2 gave the boys a quick dose of reality. Of critical importance was the absence of Smith. Despite the valiant effort contributed by Joe Sullivan (who had not participated in the opener) in his stead, the Snee-men trailed Notre Dame I closely the entire game. The final count was 31-26 for the visitors who benefited greatly by playing terrific guard Greg Polkowski virtually the entire contest. He fired home 23 points while the home club's two Chrisses, Martelli (12) and Smilios (6), could not prevent a disappointing loss. Eventually, there was some honor in defeat as Notre Dame I wound up winning 3 playoff rounds, losing in the Long Island semi-finals to the champion, St. James I of Setauket.

Not all Notre Dame squads were as tough. The next week, St. Mary's duplicated the first game pattern by turning a tight 12-9 (at half) encounter into a comfortable 35-19 triumph. A very balanced attack was led by Hannan with 8 and Alex Snee, Steve Levy and Mike Drago adding 6 each.

A return engagement with St. Aidan's IV showed each team was heading in opposite directions. It was 20-2 after the initial 8 minutes and 30-4 at halftime. The St. Mary's scoring showed Martelli and Hannan (12 each) on top.

The final margin of 57-16 could easily have been much greater.

The winning streak reached 3 when St. Peter's II made the short trip from Port Washington only to return with a 32-19 defeat for their troubles. This night, it was the Kyle Smith show as his five field goals buried the visitors. St. Mary's front line proved the difference as Mike Snee and Joe Sullivan each enjoyed fine evenings with three baskets apiece.

The Waldorf School gym proved to be the league's nicest and the Manhasset kids demonstrated their appreciation for the fine venue with an impressive 35-27 victory over a tough St. Anne's II club. The Garden City quintet reminded observers of Notre Dame I by relying on one player. Young Mr. Driscoll threw up a ton of shots and 8 of them went in for scores. He also deposited 7 of 11 from the foul line which gave him 23 of his team's 27 points. In response, Chris Martelli exploded for 15.

An undermanned St. Aidan's I visited Manhasset the next night and put up a valiant fight prior to succumbing 46-21. Ten of the 11 home team athletes hit the score sheet as Martelli (14) and Smith (8) made their usual contributions.

The Notre Dame III encounter proved to be one of the worst games of the season for a couple of reasons. The visitors arrived with only five players in uniform and the home club proceeded to play down to their level.

Amazingly, it was only 15-8 at the midway point and, although the final score did reach 31-9, the victory could best be described as "lackluster." Nice efforts were turned in by Jeremy Koufakis, scoring for the third consecutive game, and Michael Kostaras who made it two in a row. Now at 7-1, Coach Snee's boys were riding high as they traveled to St. Thomas II of West Hempstead. This meeting of the league's #2 and #3 outfits would prove to be the game of the year. While only four of the opposing players scored, the Manhasset club faced a double threat for the first time. Mike Solagus (12) and Brian DeStefano (23) time and again brought their team back from 5 to 10 point deficits. Of coarse, both played virtually the entire game but it was the burly DeStefano who eventually made the difference. And this was partially due to -- reminiscent of the Notre Dame defeat -- the untimely absence of Kyle Smith, out with a broken finger.

Despite that handicap, Manhasset still led by four entering the final minute. But, a combination of St. Mary's sloppiness and timely shooting by the home boys gave St. Thomas a 48-46 advantage with about 15 seconds remaining. And, to their credit, the local kids engineered four attempts to gain the equalizer in that short span. Unfortunately, none were successful and the result was a very frustrating loss. Martelli and Hannan topped scorers with 10 as Drago and Sullivan each contributed five large points. Kaminsky only had 2 but his 4 assists - including a lengthy half-court bounce pass - proved essential.

The Notre Dame III rematch demonstrated that this team seemed to bring out the worst in the St. Mary's outfit. This time, the New Hyde Parkers suited up six new kids and actually led 3-2 at the first quarter. In a dull, plodding contest, the visitors ground out a 23-20 victory. Interestingly, although the Manhasset coaches felt they should have won by a much wider margin, Notre Dame III did qualify the playoffs and finished a respectable 8-5.

When St. Mary's arrived in Floral Park, they were quite surprised to discover their opponents were mostly fourth grade boys "playing up." To their credit, the home team tried hard but the talent gap was huge best evidenced by the scoring totals achieved by their top men. Four boys tied with 2 each.

The final 38-9 tally was indeed merciful as Martelli and Hannan (10 apiece) easily could have notched twice that.

St. Joseph's II of Garden City provided tough opposition for the regular season finale. In a low scoring but well played affair, defense was the key for both clubs. Martelli (10), Hannan (4) and Kaminsky (3) topped home team production as the Snee students finished up in second place (10-2) with this 25-19 triumph.

Once again St. Mary's II would have to face a tough foe while missing a top performer. For the first playoff round they traveled to Hicksville and a neutral court meeting with St. Isidore who had driven over an hour from Riverhead. Point guard Eric Kaminsky was home with the flu and thus Chris Martelli had to assume double duty. Happily, he rose to the challenge and made the difference with 16 huge points. His work from the charity stripe was especially crucial as he went 8 for 11 to lead his team into the second round by 27-20 count.

If St. Mary's was confident on the ride to Bethpage to face St. Martin's I in their hometown, there was justification. Their opponent had suffered 4 regular season defeats and barely qualified for the playoffs. And for once, the Manhasset team was at full strength. However, their opponent proved to be a deep talented foe who took the lead and held it. At the half, St. Mary's trailed 18-12 and could only close to 20-15 after three. Happily, the local kids demonstrated they were made of strong stuff and led by Kaminsky (5), Smith (8) and Mike Snee (12), they narrowed the gap to two. Excellent foul shooting proved crucial but it was Snee's clutch put-back which knotted the score at 28 in the final seconds. For the first time this season, overtime would follow.

And in a replay of regulation, St. Martin's jumped out to a lead, only to see St. Mary's storm back. However, this time, the last second shots did not fall and the year came to a close 33-31(OT).

Without question, it had been a most satisfying and exciting season, Martelli, of course was top scorer for the year, averaging almost 10 points per game. Hannan, Smith and Mike Snee were runners-up. Smith and the Snee boys led in rebounding while Kaminsky and Hannan were credited with the most assists. Not only did everyone truly contribute but it equally can be said that each player improved as the season progressed. Expectations for 6th grade will surely be high.