Trina Henderson scored all of her eight points in the third quarter to help Center Moriches expand a 19-18 halftime lead into a 55-33 win over Longwood. Susan Martinez scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Center Moriches. Longwood: Redden 3-2-8, Firestone 1-0-2, Oldis 1-2-4, Fogus 1-3-5, Sinclair 1-0-2, Collins 1-0-2, Carro 4-2-10. Totals: 12-9-33. Center Moriches: Chernis 3-2-8, Henderson 4-0-8, Carrano 0-2-2, Buige 4-0-8, Martinez 6-3-15, Havens 2-2-6, Davis 1-2-4, Planz 1-0-2, Flaherty 1-0-2. Totals: 22-11-55.  Dec. 3

Lisa Baggio scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half as Half Hollow Hills West (1-0) broke a 20-game losing streak, defeating Longwood, 47-27. Hills West, which held Longwood without a field goal in the first half, was winless last year.

Half Hollow Hills West: Baggio 7-2-16, Hickey 2-0-4, Carlstrand 4-3-11, Gray 1-0-2, Pillittere 1-0-2, Sowa 1-0-2, Dugan 3-0-6, Andrew 1-0-2, Harry 1-0-2. Totals: 21-5-47. Longwood: Readen 2-4-8, Rigano 1-1-3, Firestone 1-0-2, Carro 4-4-12, Sinclair 1-0-2. Totals: 9-9-27. Dec. 10

Longwood 1 4 2 7 14 Sayville 25 14 18 20 77 Longwood: Redden 1-2-4, Rigano 2-0-4, Fogus 0-2-2, Sinclair 0-2-2, Collins 1-0-2. Totals: 4-6-14. Sayville: Baloni 0-1-1, Maurer 3-0-6, Schmald 3-1-7, Brookshire 1-3-5, Bennett 2-1-5, Moorehead 5-0-10, Nelson 6-0-12, Gregory 5-0-10, Toner 6-2-14, Clampett 3-1-7. Totals: 34-9-77.  Dec. 20

Sayville 23 12 15 11 61 Longwood 2 8 7 13 30 Sayville: Baloni 1-2-4, Maurer 4-2-10, Bennett 2-0-4, Morehead 10-2-22, Nelson 5-0-10, Gregory 0-1-1, Toner 4-2-10. Totals: 26-8-61. Longwood: Redden 2-2-6, Rigano 1-1-3, Caro 3-0-6, Gross 2-2-6, Sinclair 1-0-2, Fogus 3-1-7. Totals: 12-6-30. Jill Neslon scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter as Sayville took a 23-2 lead in its 61-30 win over Longwood. Rob Maurer (13) and Mike Shea totaled 25 points as Sayville took a 37-26 halftime lead in its 75-56 win over Longwood. Maurer finished with 25 points and Shea had 18 points and 19 rebounds. Dec. 22

Kim Weinstock scored nine points as Newfield extended a six-point lead to 17 in the second period en route to its 54-26 non-league win over Longwood. Longwood 4 2 9 11 26 Newfield 10 13 21 10 54 Longwood: Redden 5-6-16, Carro 3-0-6, Gross 1-0-2, Fogus 1-0-2.Totals: 10-6-26. Newfield: Ammann 3-1-7, Hofelich 7-1-15, Graves 1-0-2, Rueck 3-0-6, Weinstock 8-2-18, Rivera 1-0-2, Gernand 2-0-4. Totals: 25-4-54. Dec. 28

Longwood 4 3 7 18 32 Port Jefferson 12 14 14 9 49 Longwood: Redden 2-8-12, Regano 0-1-1, Cavo 2-5-9, Gross 1-1-3, Fogus 3-1-7. Totals: 8-16-32. Port Jefferson: Fantigrossi 5-0-10, Bonlarron 3-1-7, Reilly 5-0-10, Giammarino 2-0-4, Hull 2-0-4, Megargel 1-0-2, Kalamaras 2-0-4, Hickey 0-1-1, Mattimore 1-0-2, Edgar 2-1-5. Totals: 23-3-49. Dec. 31

INSIDE HIGH SCHOOLS Compassion . . . or Cop-Out?: [NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition]

Dobie, Michael. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 22 Dec 1989

The benefits of competition have been well-documented. And, certainly, one of the primary functions of high school sports is to supply the opportunity to compete. But what happens when the competition becomes one-sided, when double-digit losses become the norm rather than the exception, when losing streaks are measured in months instead of games?

Occasionally, school administrators and coaches must wrestle with the issue of whether the positive benefits of competition, however one-sided, outweigh the harmful effects of chronic losing. During the last seven months, the Longwood girls basketball program decided that with regard to losing, enough was enough.

After what athletic director Don Webster termed “a lot of soul-searching,” he and coach Phil Reany decided to disband the varsity squad and field only a junior varsity team.

Last year, Longwood finished 4-16, 0-12 in League I. Its average league game was a 54-29 loss. In 1987-88, the team was winless. There was little expectation of improvement this year – only one senior and two juniors returned; only 11 players total tried out for the varsity and jayvee.

In May, Webster and Reany asked that the team be placed in a developmental league, but none existed. So they decided, in effect, to drop out. “Winning programs breed success; losing programs lose kids,” said Reany, who had to disband his junior varsity midway through each of the last two seasons because of player defections on the varsity and jayvee levels. “There’s no way I can expose my kids to Sachem and Brentwood and Ward Melville and people like that. There’s got to be some compassion somewhere.”

The move certainly has been controversial and, possibly, unprecedented. “I can’t remember any teams that have given up the varsity program to go jayvee,” said Sachem athletic director Tom Sabatelle, who last spring ended a 12-year run as Suffolk girls basketball chairman. “You either play your way through it or improve your program any number of ways before you decide to drop out.”

Webster maintained he and Reany were not simply taking the easy way out. “I don’t think Longwood‘s trying to pull off anything,” Webster said. “I think what we’re doing is keeping athletics in proper perspective. What kind of experience is it year after year after year for Sachem to walk in and win by 50 points . . . and for our kids to get beat every year by 50 points?”

Still, many of Reany’s League I colleagues disagree with the move:

Ken Schultz, Connetquot: “I think most people would say you must preserve the varsity to have a continuity going. Some years you might need some junior high kids coming up sooner. It’s part of being in high school. It could be very cyclical.”

Risa Zander, Sachem: “The general feeling at the county coaches meeting was that people did not care for this being done, to just drop out of the league. A lot of coaches are worried it could happen in their leagues . . . People have gotten their clock cleaned for years and you just work at it until you get it turned around.”

Tom Ferrigno, William Floyd: “I understand what he’s doing. I’ve been in the same situation. We have not won a lot in the past but, personally, I would rather be a loser in League I than be a winning program just picking and choosing my own teams . . . The problem I see is what happens if I happen to have a lousy season this year? I could drop out next year.”

Longwood received approval from League I athletic directors, but many coaches were not appeased. They fear that other programs, inspired by Longwood‘s move, will seek to avoid losing seasons by dropping down to jayvee rather than taking the traditional route – cutting the jayvee, promoting younger players to the varsity and taking your lumps for a year or two.

Which is, essentially, what Reany did last year, when he started an eighth-grader and a ninth-grader. “I don’t think it’s a case of trying to duck a bad season,” Webster said. “[Reany! has been through it before; that’s not what he’s looking for. He’s looking to build a program, not to the point of being league champions, but to where the kids can have a positive outlook.”

Certainly, there is something to be said for perseverance in the face of difficulty. But “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” however valorous, also was suicidal. Longwood, in an attempt to give its lone senior some varsity experience, has played a non-league varsity schedule before its League I junior varsity season. Reany tried to schedule opponents with whom he perceived Longwood would be competitive. The results have been distressingly familiar – losses to Center Moriches (55-33), Half Hollow Hills West (47-27) and Sayville (77-14).

“We’re not talking about winning and losing, we’re talking about survival,” said Reany, who hopes to return to varsity status as soon as next year. “We’re talking about competition, giving kids a chance to succeed a little bit. That’s what sports is all about. Success is not just about winning and losing, success is about at least being in the ballgame.

“I think there comes a time when we have to not worry about wins so much and worry about the kids. This was not an easy thing to do. I’ve taken a lot of flack, no doubt about it. I think you have to do what’s right for the kids and let the chips fall where they fall.”

Lisa Baggio scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half as Half Hollow Hills West (1-0) broke a 20-game losing streak, defeating Longwood, 47-27. Hills West, which held Longwood without a field goal in the first half, was winless last year. Dec. 10