South Side boys basketball is playing quite well and looking to pull out a conference title and make another deep playoff run.
The Cyclones are 13-3 overall and 10-1 against conference rivals, sitting in a first-place tie in the loss column with Manhasset in the AA-5 standings. The teams have a showdown set for Feb. 11 at Manhasset at 6:45 p.m.
South Side is riding a three-game win streak, after a 50-32 win over Sewanhaka Monday, a 69-43 victory over Division Jan. 30, and a 56-22 trouncing over Carey on Jan. 27.
Monday marked its fifth straight game without injured standout point guard John Pericolosi. Ryan Schmitt stepped up with 18 points in the win. Against Division, Schmitt and Robert Griffo put up 14 points apiece, while Trevor Walsh added 11 and Connor Erickson 9. Griffo’s 14 paced the win over Carey.
At face value, the Cyclones are on fire, but it’s not quite the picture head coach Jerry D’Angelo painted at this point in the season.
There’s a chance Pericolosi, will miss the rest of the regular season. The 6-foot-4 All-County guard was leading the team in points, rebounds and steals, and was second in rebounds until he was injured in South Side’s first meeting with Manhasset Jan. 14. Despite the injury, Pericolosi put up 22 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals.
“It’s rough,” D’Angelo said. “In many ways John is our catalyst, and while I have other quality players, John is kind of the spearhead for us. He is a three-year starter for me, returning all-county [player], two-year captain for me, so it’s a little tough.”
Now, Erickson starts at point guard in the interim, with Jesse Kuo getting some additional minutes at the top of the key off the bench.
“It’s been a little bit of an adjustment without [John]; we’d now had [over] a week of practice to adjust without John, so I think we’re getting there,” D’Angelo said. “Connor, who I think is a capable guard, normally is our starting [shooting] guard, is starting at the point guard spot, and Jesse will come in now and play more minutes than when John was around.”
D’Angelo said how being away from the action has been a struggle for Pericolosi, but the two have found a working solution: someone who encourages his teammates between plays and cycles ideas back and forth between the point guards who are on the court and point out what they are missing. Two minds are greater than one.
“John is the bench kid that needs to keep on talking to Jesse and Connor and give them some advice,” D’Angelo explained. “Guards that are playing more minutes would kind of lean on John in the locker room, they lean on John before the game in terms of preparation, to help these kids in terms of what they may or may not see.”
It’s a team effort to success, according to D’Angelo. He added how Schmitt is one of the faces that stepped up in the last few games, now averaging close to 15 points per game.
All that remains to be seen in how South Side will continue with less than a handful of games left in the regular season. The finale is Feb. 14 at home versus Bethpage at noon.
