Lynbrook upends Glen Cove

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Lynbrook traveled to Glen Cove last Friday night to face the fifth-seeded Big Red in front of a rowdy bunch of Big Red faithful in a Nassau Class A boys’ basketball playoff game. Glen Cove, already holding two victories over its conference rival, was keen and focused on completing a three-game season sweep.

Lynbrook, however, played the role of spoiler in this one as the No. 12 Owls resiliently held on throughout the game to make their mark within the last five minutes of the contest. After the buzzer, a shocked crowd on both sides read 49-46 on the scoreboard in favor of the visitors.

Throughout the night, Glen Cove’s Jared Jackson, who finished with 26 points, made his impact heard loud and clear, slicing through the defense and drawing fouls at will. His transition layups and defensive pressure played a key role. Chris Blissett was big on the offensive boards for the Big Red and Neri Romero ran the offense and tactfully picked apart the Lynbrook defense for most of the game.

Despite all of this, Lynbrook head coach Jamie Adams knew his young guys were ready for the challenge. “They came into this game relaxed,” Adams said. “They knew what they had ahead of them, they knew they lost to this team twice. But they knew that this was a team that they could play.”

Romero and Rylan Blondo battled back and forth at the point all night and both had strong games. Blondo finished with 12 points and hit a few key pull up jumpers to gain momentum back in the favor of the Owls. Romero worked well in the half-court offense, driving and either finding a slashing Jackson, or weaving his way into the lane from the arc and laying it in for two.

However, one of the biggest sparks came from the Lynbrook bench in the form of junior guard Stephen Hendrickson. He saw plenty of playing time and really made the most of it when it came to crunch time. In the fourth quarter, he made four consecutive free throws to cut Glen Cove’s lead to three with 4:45 left to go. “Stephen’s been one of our guys off of the bench,” Adams said. “He’s a hard working kid…He took the bull by the horns and really got after it, I’m so proud of him.”

In the last minute, Lynbrook junior guard Jonathan Baltes hit a crowd-silencing and-one to bring the visitors within a point. Hendrickson hit another big shot for a 47-46 lead and then Blondo drew an offensive foul on Glen Cove with just under eight seconds left.

Adams restated how important this win was to them and how tough Glen Cove is. “They’re an exceptional team. They have a great style and great pressure. I told our guys, if we stick to our half court style, it would be hard for them to defend us for an extended period of time.”

He added one more thing. “We always say that we enjoy the win until 12 o’clock that night and then we’re on to the next opponent. However, I’ll probably give them until Sunday night this time around.”

The Owls travel to Valley Stream North, the No. 4 seed, on Thursday for a 1 p.m. quarterfinal matchup.