Huskies Ride Their Wave, Mamba Strikes Back at Shoreline

The East Shoreline Catholic Academy hardwood delivered a little bit of everything on Wednesday night: a road ambush, a shootout down to the wire, and a no-show that never got off the ground.

Around the League

Huskies 57, Green Wave 47. The league’s top team hosted, but the Huskies never treated the Green Wave like the No. 1 seed. Ryan Florentine set the tone with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, chipping in 3 assists, a steal and a three, while Josh Carter matched him blow for blow with 16 points and a game-high-tying 12 boards to go with 3 assists and a pair of triples. Behind that frontcourt muscle, the Huskies pulled away for a 10-point win, with Jon Fiorillo quarterbacking the offense (6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and John DeMetro adding 7. Green Wave’s Shawn Love did just about everything he could — a game-high 26 points with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals — but the supporting cast couldn’t keep pace. Jeffrey Luman was a monster on the glass with 15 rebounds and 7 points, and Patrick Boutilier knocked down two threes in an 8-point night, though it wasn’t enough to stop the Huskies’ surge.

Black Mamba 52, Bulldogs 47. In the night’s tightest true contest, Black Mamba leaned on a big scoring effort from Colby Morawski, who poured in 25 points with 5 rebounds. The Bulldogs had an answer in Dan Scandalito, who caught fire from deep — 5 threes on his way to 22 points, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal — but the rest of the ledger tilted Black Mamba’s way. Mike Iannuzzi (9 points, 6 rebounds), Samim Jabarkhail (7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and Paul Votto (6 points, 5 rebounds, a block) gave the hosts the balance they needed to survive by five. Khalid Jabarkhail did his part in the loss with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Mason Carey added 8 and 8, but the Bulldogs came up just short.

Red Storm 2, Knicks 0 (forfeit). No box score here — the Knicks couldn’t field a team, so Red Storm takes the win by the league’s standard 2-0 forfeit convention. A quiet night on the scoreboard, but a valuable notch in the standings all the same.

The Standings

It’s tight at the top, where three teams sit at 4-2 and are separated only by point differential. Green Wave clings to first despite the loss, its +28 diff still the best in the league, but the Huskies are lurking — winners of three straight and climbing into the conversation. Red Storm holds second on the strength of the forfeit win. The Knicks slip to a 3-3 split and an L2 skid, while Black Mamba is quietly building momentum with two straight wins to move to 2-4. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, remain winless-adjacent at 1-5 and riding a five-game slide — though with 271 points scored, the offense clearly isn’t the problem.

Movers & Shakers

Bucket of the week belongs to Shawn Love, whose 26-point, 6-rebound, 4-assist, 2-steal line paced all scorers even in a losing effort. Right on his heels was Colby Morawski with 25 in a winning cause, and Dan Scandalito, whose 5 made threes lit up the gym for 22.

The double-double club was a Huskies-only affair: Ryan Florentine (21 & 10) and Josh Carter (16 & 12) both cleared the bar in the same game — a big reason the Huskies are on a three-game roll.

Around the categories: Jeffrey Luman cleaned the glass better than anyone with 15 rebounds, Jon Fiorillo dished a week-best 5 assists, and Khalid Jabarkhail anchored the paint with 2 blocks. On the steal front, Shawn Love topped the leaderboard with 2.

See you next Wednesday, Shoreline.