Pep rally stokes school for tomorrow’s big game

Chandler Olinkiewicz, a member of the varsity boys basketball team, promised Coach Mike Mundy that if their team went to the playoffs, he’d turn cartwheels across the gym floor.

At the pep rally at the Shelter Island School this afternoon, he kept his promise. The rally was held as a “Senior Send-off” for the five graduating seniors since their last game against Greenport was cancelled due to Nemo.

Cheerleading coach Kim Clark started the rally surrounded by eight varsity cheerleaders handing out bouquets to the graduating seniors from her squad: Jayme Clark, Tara Sturges and Lea Giambruno.

The cheerleaders then bestowed flowers on the graduating boys: Hunter Starzee, Myles Clark, Chandler, Wyatt Brigham and Mitchell Clark, as Coach Mundy extolled the virtues of each player. He then presented a bouquet to his scorekeeper, Katy Binder, joking that she was responsible for picking the starting line-up of every game.

“It’s a good thing to win,” Coach Mundy told cheering students filling the bleachers. “At the beginning of the season, coaches Jay Card, Jim Colligan and I knew we had something special with this team.”

The varsity boys head to Westhampton Beach tomorrow to take on Bridgehampton for their first D School Section XI playoff game starting at 4 p.m.

The Indians beat Bridgehampton in an “historic win” on Friday, February 1, the first time they beat the Killer Bees since 1969. Coach Mundy feels confident they’ll return with a win.

“It all comes down to defense. We beat them once because we played really great defense.”