VSS squeaks by Hewlett

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As is the norm come playoff time, survive and advance was the operative phrase at Valley Stream South High last Friday evening. The Falcons erased a nine-point deficit, and then barely held on for a 55-54 victory over No. 10 Hewlett in the opening round of the Nassau Class A boys’ basketball playoffs.

Guard Dana King scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the Falcons. King’s long three-pointer midway through the third quarter gave No. 7 South a 33-32 lead, and the Falcons never trailed again. Senior Murilo Pereira scored a season-high 13 points. Senior Joe Pasquale and freshman point guard Luca Preziosi each scored 15 for Hewlett.

VSS head coach Matt Johnsen knows where the game turned for the defending county champions. “We came out in the second half and applied pressure on defense,” Johnsen said. “It was a bad decision to come out in a zone in the opening half. They were shooting well, and we weren’t active. In the third quarter, we forced a bunch of turnovers, and started to control the pace of the game.”

After Preziosi buried his third three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 29-20 lead late in the opening half, South went on a 15-3 run that was capped off by a bucket by Josh Robinson. King scored 11 of the 15 points. 

A driving layup by King gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the contest at 44-36 with less than a minute to go in the third quarter, but Hewlett wouldn’t go away. 

Each time South appeared to put the game on ice, the Bulldogs found life. Late baskets by seniors Messiah Clark and Bar Itzhak cut the margin to 55-52. However, with 7.3 seconds to play Hewlett failed to get a shot off from behind the arc.

Hewlett’s head coach Bill Dubin and his staff prepared the team well, but the Bulldogs lost their composure in the third quarter and played right into South’s hands. “I thought we defended well, and did a nice job shutting them down in the first half,” Dubin said. “We started to play their game rather than our own, and they went on a big run.”

The Bulldogs held King and junior Hall Elisias to just seven points in the opening half, but junior Jaremi Hernandez stepped in and carried the load. Hernandez scored all 12 of his points in the game’s first ten minutes. Elisias never got on track on the offensive end, but the 6-foot-7 center was a menace on defense, blocking or altering nearly every shot that went up in the paint in the second half. 

At tournament time, free throw shooting is almost always a factor. This game was no exception. Hewlett, which finished with a record of 12-4, shot just 8 for 19 from the line, while the Falcons hit on 9 of 15.  

Valley Stream South, which improved to 14-4, will go on the road to play No. 2 Great Neck South this Friday at 6:30 p.m.