South Side falls to Harborfields

South Side entered last Saturday’s Long Island Class A/Southeast Regional final a heavy underdog against a Haborfields team considered by many to be the best in the state regardless of school size.

The Tornadoes lived up to the hype, putting an end to the Cyclones’ 19-win season with a convincing 80-61 victory before a packed house of more than 3,500 at Hofstra. Seniors John Patron (20), Lucas Woodhouse (18), Justin Ringen (13) and David Ba (11) all scored in double figures for Harborfields, which scored the final eight points of the opening quarter and never looked back.

“There’s no question they’ve got a talented and complete team,” South Side coach Jerry D’Angelo said. “I’m just disappointed we didn’t bring our best game. We couldn’t hit a shot from the outside in the first half and made some defensive mistakes.”

Senior Ryan Spadaford led South Side with 15 points and seven rebounds, while seniors Kevin Coyle and Justin Rhodes chipped in 11 and nine points, respectively.

The Cyclones led 8-4 early and later knotted the game at 12 on senior Tim Gangadeen’s put-back before Harborfields starting hitting on all cylinders. Ringen sank consecutive shots from behind the arc and Patron added a field goal for a 20-12 lead.

It was more Tornadoes in the second quarter. Patron, a player D’Angelo said he wanted to neutralize, had a dozen points in the quarter and Woodhouse added six as the margin swelled to 41-23 by halftime.

“We made a few adjustments, but it’s difficult to play catch-up against a team of their stature,” D’Angelo said. 

The Cyclones kept working, but Harborfields had more. The Tornadoes’ lead peaked at 53-29 with 4:23 remaining in the third quarter. It was 61-38 heading into the fourth.

“We achieved a lot this year,” said D’Angelo, the Nassau Conference A-I Coach of the Year. “The kids worked hard in the offseason and came back very hungry. We had good chemistry and depth.”

Spadaford and senior point guard Darren Nickelson earned All-County honors, while Coyle, Gangadeen and senior Robert Picchioni picked up All-Conference.