Port Washington Beats Commack To Win Long Island Large School Title

Port Washington clinched its spot in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Regionals, and claimed its first Long Island Large School title since 2022 after defeating Commack 7-0 at Shoreham-Wading River High School on Saturday afternoon. 

Just days after edging its rival Syosset 4-3 in the Nassau County final, the Vikings got right back to work and kept its momentum up in the showdown with Commack. 

“We definitely had a big high after the Nassau County Championship win, and we told the girls that we need to remain polished, keep improving and stay in top shape,” said Port Washington head coach Shane Helfner. “We had some good practices, where we tried to keep things loose, but also work on the things we needed to in order for the girls to be mentally prepared for today. The girls knew that, and they came ready to play today. 

Commack had a huge win [in the Suffolk County final], and had a great season, so we knew we could not lose our focus.”

That focus was on display right from the start, as Port Washington raced out to quick victories at both fourth and third doubles. Jamison Hershman & Lila Hershman won 6-0, 6-0 at fourth doubles while Layna Koutsoyiannis & Peri Cooper were 6-0, 6-0 winners at third doubles. 

Soon after, Evie Loewy & Ruby Siskind closed out their 6-1, 6-0 win at second doubles to bring their team within one court of clinching the title. 

That would come at third singles, when Iris Kim finished her 6-0, 6-0 win at third singles. 

“We know what we are capable of doing, so we wanted to make sure we had the mindset of being excited and pumped for today’s match,” said Kim. “We’ve been practicing a lot, and based on how we played today, doubles and singles, we know that we are capable of winning.”

Port Washington’s dominant performance continued on the remaining three courts. Christiana Kent & Shoriya Bhat-Bhandarkar won 6-3, 6-1 at first doubles, Vanessa Wang won 6-3, 6-3 at second singles, and Michaela Lin won 6-0, 6-2 at first singles as the Vikings completed the sweep.

“I was just trying to make sure I was getting the ball in the court, and not worrying about what the score was,” said Lin. “We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves as a team, we set a large goal for ourselves and we know we can reach it.”

The Vikings are winners of its last eight, and aim to continue its outstanding play when it travels to Harrison High School in Westchester, where it will play Scarsdale for a place in the NYSPHSAA semifinals. 

“We’re going to try and take things little by little during the week, maybe focus on one thing a day, and make sure we keep it fun but focused in our practices,” Helfner added. “On Thursday we have our charity event for breast cancer awareness where players team up with a teacher for a doubles tournament, so that will be a nice change of place. But yes, we’ll give them a mental health day at some point just to reset the batteries, and then go right back to work to get ready for our next opponent.”

Helfner and the team are looking forward to competing for a chance to win a New York State title, but are also making sure to enjoy the ride they are on with their “fall family”:

“These girls love being with each other, and as a coach, it’s obviously nice to win, but it’s equally as important to see the girls creating these bonds and memories. We know that at some point the season’s going to end, but we are just going to enjoy it as long as we can.”

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