Seaford Hands Mustangs First Conference Loss

The Mineola Mustangs led the game for the first 40 seconds on Friday night against the Seaford Vikings , and had the game tied for about the same amount of time to open the third.

But for the other 29 minutes and 20 seconds of the game, Seaford handed Mineola a tough defeat inside their own gym on the way to a 74-59 victory on Reggie Carter Memorial night.

Seaford, which was led by a brilliant 35 point performance by senior Robert Goldstein, were able to penetrate and break down Mineola’s zone defense on their way to the 15 point victory.

“We showed we can beat anyone,” Seaford coach Ralph Rossetti said after the game.

Coming into the night two games back in Conference IV play, and having already lost to Mineola 72-50, Seaford picked up a key game as teams start the second half of their conference schedule.

“I told the kids we gotta take it one game at a time,” Rossetti said.

Mineola was led by senior Jim Bulva, who dropped 21 points in the losing effort.

Seaford came out of the gate and set the tone for the high scoring contest, as they tacked 20 points on the scoreboard. Goldstein scored 12 points to open the quarter.

In the second, Seaford seemed poised to put Mineola out of the game completely. With the game at 25-19, the Vikings hit a pair of treys on back-to-back possessions to grab a 31-19 lead. But the Mustang’s came back to life, with sophomore Michael Waszczuk leading a 13-4 run for the Mineola. Waszczuk scored six of his 15 points in the run.

Bulva seemed to give Mineola a chance at taking the lead back when he opened the third quarter with a field goal off a Thomas Ward pass, but Seaford was able to stem off the attack.

Goldstein hit senior Mike Siler for a jumper on the next possession to give Seaford the lead back, and the pair connected again several possessions later.

By the end of the third, Seaford re-established a dominant lead with a 51-38 advantage.

Afterwards, Mineola coach Jim Hegmann said “we took bad shots, we were not playing together,” adding “we have to come ready to play.”

In the fourth, the teams played a track meet, as Seaford scored 23 points and Mineola added 21.

Goldstein, who remained relatively quiet in the middle periods, set the tone for Seaford with 15 points in the final frame.

Rossetti was quick to point out what a difference a healthy team makes.

“Last time we played them, we were sick,” Rossetti said, noting that two of his starters were out.

For Hegmann, the loss was a blown opportunity at improving their stance in the conference.

“We had a two game cushion, and now we don’t,” he said.

With the victory, Seaford improved to a 4-2 record in league play, while Mineola fell to 5-1.