South Side storms past Hewlett

Posted

South Side spotted Hewlett the first six points of Wednesday night’s Nassau Class A boys’ basketball semifinal playoff matchup at Hofstra and trailed after each of the first three quarters.

Then, in the fourth, the Cyclones turned up the pressure and the Bulldogs couldn’t handle the heat.

No. 3 South Side didn’t allow a point for more than seven minutes and scored 16 straight on its way to a 58-46 victory. Seniors Brandon Grayson (17), Dami Awosika (14), Pat Basile (13) and Ryan Prendergast (11) all scored in double figures for the Cyclones, who advanced to meet top-seeded Elmont, the defending state champions, in a rematch of last year’s county final won by the Spartans in double overtime.

“We dialed up the defensive intensity and forced them to play faster than they wanted to,” South Side head coach Jerry D’Angelo said. “We created a couple of key turnovers early in the fourth quarter that helped us gain momentum.”

Senior Zach Bromfeld had 17 points for seventh-seeded Hewlett (17-5), which led 37-33 with 1:05 remaining in the third after junior Alyjah Hill’s trey. Grayson’s three-point play brought South Side (17-5) within one at the end of the quarter, and it was all Cyclones in the fourth.

Senior James Testa’s 10-foot jumper early in the fourth gave South Side the lead for good. It went 7-for-8 from the line during the 16-point spurt and Prendergast hit all six of his free throw attempts in the final 90 seconds to seal the outcome.

“We’ll enjoy this one tonight and start thinking about Elmont tomorrow,” D’Angelo said.