Jets progressing on hardwood

East Meadow’s heading down the road to success on the basketball court, but the varsity team is just a few feet shy of turning the corner as the 2009-10 season nears its halfway point. The Jets (3-7 overall) coming off their first Conference AA-III victory over Calhoun on Jan. 9, followed it up with a 55-44 loss to Freeport last Monday in a game that was tied after three quarters. Senior Matt Gundrum led all scorers with 20 points, but no other East Meadow player scored more than six. 

“We’re always disappointed when we lose, but we’ve lost some tough games,” Jets coach Barry Dickson said.

In knocking off Calhoun, 66-46, East Meadow turned in one of its most balanced efforts of the season as 10 different players scored but none had more than nine. The magic number for points was nine, however, as senior Andrew Wilen and juniors Rob Bocchetti, Kyle Berger and Rob Franzese all fell one shy of double digits. A seven-point lead after the first quarter was extended to 35-18 at halftime, and the Jets were never threatened again. “I like the fact that we’re taking good shots,” Dickson said, noting the excellent execution of the offense against Calhoun. “We don’t always make them, but we’re [getting the looks].”

Junior point guard Chris Melnyczuk epitomized the near flawless offensive play, scoring five points while dishing out seven assists without a single turnover.

Gundrum turned in a game-high 17 points when East Meadow hosted Kennedy on Jan. 4, but the Jets came up short, 48-40. While the Jets are tall and athletic, the Cougars boast a deep, wide-bodied frontline that creates matchup problems for most teams. “We didn’t shoot well and they controlled the glass,” Dickson said.

Gundrum’s strength offensively is on the perimeter, but the 6-4 forward can also create defensive mismatches for opposing guards. He held Kennedy’s leading scorer, junior Joey Karo, without a point when the two were pitted against each other and is often assigned to an opponent’s top offensive threat.

Not lost on Dickson in the setback to the Cougars was the continued improvement on both ends of the floor. After winning non-league games over Clarke and Garden City in December behind a pressing, up-tempo defense that forces turnovers, the offense is running smoother in halfcourt sets and continues to become more efficient with a large rotation of players involved.

“All nine guys have contributed,” Dickson said. “We had three games that could have gone either way down the stretch and we lost all three.”

The Jets host first place Syosset at 7 p.m. on Tuesday hoping to even the score after dropping the first meeting 64-51 and getting outscored by nine points in the fourth quarter. “All three of our wins have not been close,” Dickson said. “Unfortunately we haven’t been winning the close games, we’ve been losing them.”