The month of January in New York goes down as one of the coldest

in recent memory and the Mineola High School boys varsity basketball squad suffered through an equally cruel month.

With hopes of battling for the fourth playoff spot in conference A-III, the Mustangs have been unable to stay in the running as Island Trees claimed its first conference win at the expense of the Mustangs by a 68-58 score.

The second quarter that saw the visitors outscore Mineola 13-4 proved to be too much to overcome. The Mustangs fought back to within seven points in the fourth quarter, but got no closer. Rich Carter led the scoring with 16 points.

There may have been a carryover in the next game or perhaps Roosevelt was just too good. In any case, the Rough Riders buried the Mustangs 80-28 in a fundraising event that resulted in a full house at Roosevelt, making it a very difficult environment for a visitor. Add to that the Rough Riders' full court pressure and it was not Mineola's night.

Three nights later, Mineola hosted Bellmore-JFK and their coach Rory Block, who teaches at Mineola High School. This was a typical game in this series; it was hard-fought and close to the final buzzer. But, the visiting Cougars escaped with a 46-45 victory.

Mineola senior guard Jerelle Harrison did an excellent job defensively, holding down JFK's leading scorer, Dave Tener, who averages 25 points per game, to just 5 points through most of the second half. However, he calmly dropped in a pair of free throws in the last minutes of the game and finished the game with 19 points.

For Mineola, senior Dan Medlock had his best game of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

After the close game against Bellmore-JFK, the Mustangs came out flat at Bethpage two nights later, fell behind 41-18 at halftime and ended up losing 65-38.

Medlock was the bright spot with 14 points and 8 rebounds.

It's not always which team you have to play, but also when you play them and after a rugged loss at Bethpage, the one team Mineola didn't need to face was Floral Park.

A day after the Knights handed Roosevelt a 10-point defeat, the Mustangs had its chance to play Floral Park. The game was close early, but got away quickly and Mineola dropped a 56-38 decision.

Harrison paced Mineola with 12 points while Medlock and Sean Bailey combined for 21 rebounds.

The stretch left Mineola with a 1-6 record in league play. The playoffs are an extreme long shot but with three home games remaining, the Mustangs have a chance to regain some confidence and respect.