NCN LAX/BASKETBALL BLOG

Freelancer Mike Sabini was at the Beacon-Hendrick Hudson contest at Hen Hud High School on Feb. 11. This is his report.

By Mike Sabini

No. 13-seeded Hendrick Hudson (10-9) was right where it wanted to be — with a one-point lead late in its contest against No. 20-seeded Beacon in the Section 1 Class A out-bracket game.

Unfortunately, Beacon’s Gary Buxton was also in prime position — with the ball in his hands and time winding down in regulation.

Buxton, who scored a team-high 21 points, hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game from the top of the key with just .4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, giving the Bulldogs a stunning 66-64 win.

Despite the loss, Hen Hud Head Coach Steve Purcigliotti was still proud of his squad.

“For the year, we had nine losses, but teams had to earn it,” the coach said. “Their effort all year has been great. I can’t complain one bit about that.”

Hen Hud showed its heart in the fourth quarter, rallying back from a 57-48 deficit to take a 63-60 lead on a 3-pointer by Bennett Zink with less than a minute left in regulation.

Zink sank the shot coming out of a Sailors timeout.

“We wanted to get a good shot, but we also just wanted to remind our team of making sure we get to their shooters and make sure we take care of the basketball,” Purcigliotti said. “It was 57-48 (Beacon), then it was tied, so we didn’t want to give them an easy opportunity. We were best against their zone when we were pounding it inside and I believe we threw it inside and it collapsed. Then we found Bennett and he hit the shot.”

However, Beacon’s Bulolo Iongo converted on a layup at the 19.4-second mark, making it 64-63 Hen Hud. Iongo put in the bucket after grabbing an offensive rebound.

“We grab the rebound there, they have to foul us, we make our free throws and hopefully it becomes a two-possession game,” Purcigliotti said. “What bothered me there was that enabled them to call timeout, which gave them a chance to set up their press.”

Hen Hud’s Dylan Stewart then missed two free throws with 11.5 seconds left, setting up Buxton’s heroics.

Despite those misses, Stewart had another stellar effort, pouring in a game-high 26 points.

“Stewart was a little frustrated at himself in the first half (when he scored only six points),” Purcigliotti said. “We told him at half, ‘Dylan, you are getting good looks. They are going to drop in the second half.’”

Joining Stewart in the scoring column were Micheal Tandy (13 points), Kyle Altman (11 points), TJ Olesczuk (eight points) and Zink (six points).

Freelancer Mike Sabini was at the All Hallows-Peekskill contest at New Rochelle High School on Feb. 6. This is his report.

By Mike Sabini

Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro scheduled a slew of tough games to prepare his squad for the upcoming Section 1 Class A tournament.

Playing the likes of Long Island Lutheran, Iona Prep, Xaverian, Wings Academy and Poughkeepsie was important for Peekskill. Unlike in past years, however, the Red Devils came up empty against powerhouse programs.

And the disturbing trend continued Saturday against All Hallows. The Gaels bested the Red Dvils, 64-55, at New Rochelle High School.

Despite the loss, the Red Devils managed to compete throughout, trailing by only four, 33-29, midway through the third quarter.

“I honestly thought that we had fatigued them, that we could outrun them, if we made good decisions with the basketball,” Panzanaro said. “They seemed to be fatiguing, weren’t attacking and weren’t getting the ball up the floor. I thought we could put pressure on them and turn the game in our favor.”

But All Hallows big man Omar Kellman refused to be denied, scoring 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.

“It could be fatigue, but I don’t know,” Panzanaro said. “Kenny (Bradshaw) played almost the whole game. Maybe that’s my fault. I have got to rest him a little bit. They get tired, don’t move as quickly and don’t jump as well. I hesitate to bring Kenny out, because he’s our best rebounder and I’m afraid we are going to get beat without him in there. But if he’s tired in the fourth quarter, we’re going to get beat, so it’s a double-edged sword. I just have to find a way to get him some rest.”

In addition to Kellman, Michael Alvarado (game-high 25 points) also hurt Peekskill.

“Michael is a very good ballplayer,” Panzanaro said. “Sometimes we lost our defensive assignment and let him get in the lane.”

For the Red Devils, senior point guard Daquan Brickhouse led the way with 20 points. Bradshaw chipped in with 13.

“I think we have a good team, but we have to finish [games] and close things down,” Panzanaro said. “We have to rebound better, shoot better and play better defense.”

With the aforementioned Class A sectionals on the horizon, Peekskill must get its act together.  The No. 6-seeded Red Devils — looking to win their sixth straight gold ball — will host No. 11-seeded Pearl River in the opening round Feb. 12.

Freelancer Mike Sabini was at the Hen Hud-Peekskill contest at Peekskill on Feb. 3. This is his report.

By Mike Sabini

Peekskill (11-5) held a ceremony to honor its senior players and cheerleaders before its contest against visiting Hendrick Hudson in its last regular season home game on Feb. 2.

At first, however, it appeared the Sailors would be doing the celebrating.

Hen Hud (9-7), powered by 17 first-half points from Dylan Stewart, led Peekskill 31-30 at halftime but eventually succumbed to the Red Devils’ pressure and fell, 72-53, extending Peekskill’s home winning streak to 55 games.

Despite Stewart’s hot start, he could only manage four second-half points for a team-high 21 points.

“Dylan was playing the way he is capable of playing,” Hen Hud Head Coach Steve Purcigliotti said. “Dylan has had a very good year for us, especially over the last month of the season. Give him all the credit in the world, he was awesome.”

Hen Hud earned that halftime lead by finding the open man, taking good shots, moving the basketball and reacting superbly to whatever defense the Red Devils were throwing at them, according to Purcigliotti.

The momentum started to turn when Peekskill forward Sean Smythe, who scored 11 points, hit a 3-pointer with just seven seconds left in the third quarter that put the Red Devils up 48-44.

“That three was huge at the end of the third,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said. “We said to him (Smythe) you haven’t been shooting well but just keep shooting the basketball and it’s going to come. Shooters go into slumps and different things happen but you can’t shy away from it. You have to go get it again and I thought he did a good job tonight.”

Guard Daquan Brickhouse did a great job for Peekskill, tallying a game-high 26 points. A jumper by Brickhouse was the first of 14 straight Red Devils points to start the fourth quarter.

Purcigliotti called a few time outs to try and stop Peekskill’s momentum, but it was to no avail.

“Our problem was that once we broke the press, we just got ahead of ourselves and weren’t taking good shots,” Purcigliotti said. “That’s why I called a couple of timeouts. I told the team we are doing a good job of breaking their press but you are rushing shots. That allowed Peekskill to start running and breaking and when you allow it to do that, it turns into typical Peekskill basketball.”

Joining Brickhouse and Smythe in that typical style of Peekskill hoops were Kenny Bradshaw (13 points), Shaine Carter (nine), Tyler Daniel and Curtis Lamar (four each), Jamel Cultherberson (three) and Kyree Hull (two).

With Brickhouse, Bradshaw, Smythe, Lamar and Aaron Dimmie having played their last regular season home game, Panzanaro was reflective.

“We had five seniors and we started all five of them,” Panzanaro said. “It’s a sad time of year to see them play their last regular season home game. They mean a lot. By the time they are seniors they have been through this a couple of times, in Daquan’s case four years. You just hope they have success in whatever they do after this.”

Despite the loss, Hen Hud is still enjoying its best season since 2006, when the Sailors went 12-9 and qualified for the sectionals.

Outside of Stewart, Mike Tandy (12 points), TJ Olesczuk (six), Kyle Altman (five), Casey Peterson (three), Ronan Callagy, Nick Rizk and Bennett Zink (two points apiece) also contributed.