This celebration was originally scheduled for the December 22^nd game against Whitman that was postponed, and then various members of the team were out with injury and illness. So this past Monday’s game – a 68-20 shellacking of Connetquot that improved the Lady Tigers record to 10-1 – Dantuano was finally able to spring the ceremony on a surprised Castellano.

“During warmups, I was writing some notes down about matchups and I noticed something different about what the girls were wearing during their shoot-around,” said Castellano.

The players banded together and ordered custom T-shirts that were emblazoned with a large, blue ‘700’ inside a Northport Basketball and the coach’s name printed above it.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘where did those shirts come from?’”, said Castellano. “At that point, I knew something was up! It was very nice.  Mark and his team, as well as my players, did a first-class job and I want to thank everyone involved. It was really great and they managed to keep it a surprise, which I’m sure was difficult for all these weeks.”

Of course, members of the Northport Athletic glitterati were in attendance, including Castellano’s longtime friend and Northport Baseball Coach John DeMartini, Lady Tiger superfan and Head Football Coach Pat Campbell as well as the Northport Tigerettes, who entertained the crowd with a dazzling halftime performance. It was a special night for Castellano and yet another honor for the Northport Athletic program, which has seen a blizzard of special wins and championships over the past few calendar years.

“I’ve known Rich for many years and know him to be not just an outstanding coach, but also an educator of the kids he coaches,” said DeMartini. “He not only loves coaching but cares and loves his players who love him back. He is just a remarkable, well-respected person amongst the coaching ranks and he has always devoted his life to the kids he coaches. Nobody wins that many games over the years without having a caring, wonderful relationships with his players.”

As for the actual game, it really wasn’t much of one. The Lady Tigers led after the first quarter 23-4 and the rest of the game was more of the same. Castellano was able to play every member of the team and 14 players registered at least one point. Bica led the team with 15 and Kennedy Radziul, who is making her way back from an ankle sprain and Natalia D’Onofrio, who canned three consecutive 3 pointers in the second half both had 11.

“We are all really proud of ‘Casto’ for having so much dedication to the league in general and our team this season,” said the senior co-captain Bica. “I’ve been playing for him for four years and he has helped me become a much smarter and more confident point guard and he’s the reason we are also passionate about this team. The energy he puts into every practice and game makes it easier for us to work together for our common goal. He is hard on players when he has to be, but always make sure we know he does what he does out of love and his passion as a coach. “We are so proud of this achievement, and we all know that he deserves every win he has gotten.”

With victory 705 and Whitman’s loss to Commack on Monday, there is a logjam at the top of the League II standings. Ward Melville is 4-0 in league play and is the only team without a conference loss. Whitman is 5-1 while Northport and Commack are both 4-1.

Connetquot, along with Lindenhurst and Bay Shore are 1-5 in league play, creating a distinct bifurcation within the division.

“The leauge is a tale of two groups this year,” said Castellano. “But we have a few huge games coming up against the top teams in our league and we need to take care of business.”

After Lindenhurst on Thursday, the Lady Tigers have two road games against Ward Melville and Commack on Friday and then next Tuesday respectively, as Castellano makes his way to – dare we say – win #800.

“As long as I feel like I’m still getting the message across, I’ll be here as long they’ll have me,” the affable coach said when asked about that next milestone. “I’d love to get to 800.”

.Scroll down a little further for 75 high quality, full color photos of the Casto ceremony, game and Tigerettes.   Click on any photo for Gallery view