Mineola Basketball Rides to First Place Over Roosevelt

It’s not an understatement to say that this was the biggest win Mineola had played in the entirety of the 2012-13 season.

Consider the following:

Their front three of Malcolm Brown, Brian Gaffney and the newly returned Mike Wasczyuk each scored in double digits Saturday.

They upended Roosevelt 61-46 Saturday, something they had not been able to do at all in the 2011-12 season.

They are in sole possession of first place in Conference A-IV.

And they have a good chance of clinching the No. 1 seed, having reduced their magic number to four with five games left to go on their schedule.

With the color guard show going on at Mineola High School and Roosevelt’s new home under construction, the Mustangs were playing in Westbury at the “Yes We Can” arena, a campaign motto they could just as easily have co-opted from President Obama’s 2008 campaign for their own usage this season.

On the floor everyone from Brown and Gaffney to the returned Waszchuk can sense they are as close as they have ever been, getting a 16-0 run in the first quarter and cruising to victory the rest of the way, only slowing down in the third with a total of 9 points on the board and matching Roosevelt’s 14 points in the final frame.

Waszchuk led the way with 23 total points, matching his season high, including three from beyond the arc. Gaffney contributed 14 while Brown had 10.

With a 7-1 conference record and 9-3 overall, the only divisional loss they have sustained was against Island Trees.

From the chemistry between the trio, the fast-break offense, it gives Mineola fans hope that this season things will finally change in the post-season.

And that is no understatement.