Shaking off a stuck-in-the-mud first eight minutes that saw them shoot 2 for 11 from the floor and fall behind by as many as 10, the Tigers hopped off the bench to start the second with fire in their hearts.

Northport Guard-Forward-Center Nick Watts slashed through the lane for a bucket to start the second quarter and the Tigers never missed for the rest of the half. They made all nine of their field goal attempts in Q2 and they came in all shapes and sizes – long bombs, slashing drives and back door beauties highlighted a furious eight minutes

J.J. Ahlstrand hit on one of his patented acrobatic drives through the lane, Jon Alfiero drove baseline for a deuce and Watts hit a pair of threes, the second of which closed the gap to 23-20. Until that point, guard Brendan Carr, who averages 18 a game, hadn’t registered a point.

That was about to change.

Carr came off a curl on the right elbow and nailed a three pointer to tie the game at 23. Seconds later, he did the same from the opposite side, giving the Tigers their first lead since the opening minute of the game.  After a Smithtown timeout, Watts hit Carr on a beautifully-executed back door play to give the Tigers a 26-23 lead and Carr his seventh and eighth points in barely over a minute.

“The shots started to fall in that second quarter,” said Carr. “I started to use my legs and things started to click. We ran that same play where I take a step to the rim and then come back, and I hit them both. Nick made a great pass on that back door play and all of a sudden we had the lead. It was crazy.”

It should be noted that the Smithtown West fans were chanting ‘You’re not a point guard’ when Watts dribbled the ball up court. After his pass to Carr, they refrained from making such chants for the rest of the game.

“Brendan played a phenomenal game,” said Head Coach Andrew D’Eloia. “A lot of our guys did. It was such a team effort and that was what was so great about this game.”

The Tigers would end the half with an explosive cherry on top of the sundae when Ahlstrand split two Bulls at the top of the key and hit a lefty layup at the buzzer. This gave Northport a 30-23 lead. Ahlstrand’s basket capped a 22-5 run to end the half and made the first quarter’s glacial start a distant memory.

“It’s a 32 minute game and there are going to be ebbs and flows,” said D’Eloia. “It’s a credit to our guys because they did not panic and they stuck with the game plan. We have a lot of senior leadership and a lot of the athletes on our team have won a lot of different games in many different sports so they’re built for situations like that.”

While the dazzling display of offense got the Tigers up and over the early hill, it was the defense that kept that hill from becoming a mountain.  Against this Bull team, with their 6’8” athletic center Patrick Burke and sharpshooter Tyler Anderson, this was no small task.

Northport used a rotation of muscle to defend against Burke as Watts, Alfiero, junior Andrew Miller and senior Dylan McNaughton all took turns tussling the big man and keeping him away from his favorite spots. He scored 8 points in the first quarter but was hard to find after that. He finished with 21 but much of that was late in the fourth when the game was all but out of reach for Smithtown.

“Our game plan was to stop him as best as we could,” said McNaughton. “We ‘out-physicalled’ him and wore him down. Between me, Drew, Nick and Jon, we were able to stay fresh and that was an important part of winning this game.”

The third quarter, despite balls not flying in the basket from everywhere on the court for either side, still enabled the Tigers’ lead to balloon to 14.  Smithtown mustered only four points in Q3 with no field goals.

Emmett Radziul, who runs the Tiger offense, is adept at not only getting the ball to the right person, but he also has an innate sense of tempo. The Tigers shot over 60% from the field after the first quarter as they ran their motion offense to dizzying perfection.

“I try to facilitate as best I can,” said the junior Radziul, who had five assists and was a perfect 4 for 4 at the foul line. “It’s great having so many teammates that I can give the ball to, that can finish.  It makes my job easier.”

Finish they did. Carr netted 28, including six threes, Watts had 14 with 11 rebounds, and Ahlstrand had nine points. McNaughton had eight rebounds and four points.

“Emmett did such a good job at handling pressure,” said D’Eloia. “He just knows how to get the ball to the right spot and it’s really fun to watch.  it’s very tough to guard us because of how we share the ball and it all starts with Emmett.”

Northport led 41-27 after three and the two teams played to a relative stalemate in the fourth. Smithtown West amassed a minor incursion that cut the lead to eight with a little over two minutes to go, but the Tigers handled the pressure, hit their free throws and when Carr hit his 6^th triple of the game with 55 ticks remaining, it was the final kill shot. Northport led 55-44 – game, set, match.

The Tigers (20-2) will play Half Hollow Hills East in the Suffolk County Final on Saturday, March 5.  The game will be played at neutral site Smithtown East.  The Thunderbirds (17-6) overcame some adversity as their win against Brentwood was split over two days.  The father of guard Derek Varlack had a medical issue that necessitated first responder intervention.  The game was completed the next day as Hills East came back from a double digit deficit. Varlack scored 13 in the fourth quarter to spark the T-birds.

The Lady Tigers (21-1) will get the day underway when they also play for the County Championship against long-time playoff nemesis Longwood (20-1) in an all-Northport afternoon of basketball.

“It’s really great to see all of this success at Northport,” said D’Eloia. “We have a lot of kids playing multiple sports and that’s the way it was in the old days. If you’re a winner, you’re a winner, and I think that’s why we really have things clicking at Northport.”

Radziul’s sister Kennedy will suit up for those Lady Tigers and the sibs are no stranger to Northport basketball championships.  Their mom, Kimberly Ruck-Radziul and Kimberly’s sister Cami won four straight County Championships together a generation ago.

When asked if his mother is instrumental in his floor leadership, Radziul was transparent.

“We watch film together and she lectures me, no doubt,” said Radziul. “Kennedy and I are aware of all the championships she’s won and it’s a lot to live up to, but we’re trying to add a few.”

On Saturday, with a chance to earn two more, it would be a fine place to start.