It was a good start to November in the Smithtown Central School District. Within a few days, both of its high schools won Suffolk County championships: Smithtown High School East girls volleyball took its second straight Section XI Class AA title, and Smithtown High School West came from behind to beat top-ranked Huntington, 2-1, for the county soccer crown.

Smithtown East: down two sets to one, then two straight

Smithtown East went into the county final unbeaten and the defending champion. Against Half Hollow Hills West, the Bulls found themselves trailing two sets to one, one set away from losing the title. They won the next two sets to close out the match and keep the championship in Smithtown for a second year in a row.

Head coach George Alamia pointed to two players who led the turnaround, Skyla Sullivan and Brianna Cerullo, and said the team rose with them once its leaders took over. Sullivan said afterward that the title was the payoff for a season of hard work, and Cerullo said the team still has more it wants to win, crediting how the players back each other up on the court.

Back-to-back county titles are hard to come by in Class AA, which holds the largest schools in Suffolk. A repeat means beating a full new field of opponents who spent a year preparing for the team that won last time.

Smithtown West: two goals in the last 10 minutes

Across town, Smithtown West faced Huntington, the top-ranked team in the bracket, in the county final on Sunday. The Bulls were behind late. Junior Tyler Stelma then scored both of Smithtown West's goals in the final 10 minutes, turning a deficit into a 2-1 win and the school's first county title since 2023.

What comes next

The soccer season is not over. Smithtown West now plays Vestal High School in the state regional final on Saturday, November 7, at Chenango Forks High School in Binghamton. The district has listed the start time as still to be determined, so check before making the drive upstate.

The Smithtown Central School District posts game news, photos and updates for both schools on its district website, and more photos from the volleyball final are on the district's Facebook page.

Sources