Oceanside rallies past Hempstead

Faced with the reality of digging an early hole in the Nassau Conference AA-I boys’ basketball standings, Oceanside rallied from six points down at the half to defeat visiting Hempstead, 61-58, Dec. 21 behind big efforts from seniors Gene Garay and Greg Gilbert.

Garay, still bothered by a rough performance in a conference-opening loss at Freeport four days earlier, scored a game-high 26 points and dished out six assists, while Gilbert added 18 points and six rebounds.

“It’s a big win for a lot of reasons,” Sailors coach Dan Keegan said. “In conference so far we’ve had a two-point game and a three-point game. I think that’s the way the season is going to go. There won’t be too many blowouts [in this conference].”

Oceanside outscored Hempstead by a 22-8 margin from the foul line and missed only seven attempts. Garay was a perfect 11-for-11, Gilbert sank five attempts, and senior Brian Nnadi (11 points) was 4-for-4.

“We had to calm ourselves down on offense,” Keegan explained. “We were more assertive in the second half. Defensively, we were trying to take away the point and they took advantage with the floor spread. We went man in the second quarter and had success with it.”

Garay, who was held to one field goal and five points Dec. 17 in a frustrating 43-41 loss at Freeport, was his usual prolific self against the Tigers. “They were throwing hands and hips out to try to contain Gene,” Keegan said of Hempstead. “They’ve got talented guards, but Gene can be a tough matchup for anyone.”

Hempstead, which was led by Brandon Underwood’s 16 points, trailed by one after the first quarter but found its shooting touch in the second and led by as many as nine. The Tigers had 21 second-quarter points and took a 32-26 lead into intermission.

“We’ve got resilient kids,” Keegan said. “These guys don’t care about being in AA-I. Even off a tough loss and being down nine against a perennial power didn’t rattle them.”

Keegan credited Freeport’s interior defense for holding Oceanside (4-3 overall) to its season-low output through the first seven games. “It was more a better defensive effort on both sides than it was a poor shooting night,” he said. “They clogged the middle and we couldn’t get all the way to the rim.”

The Sailors won three of five non-league games, with the most impressive coming Dec. 8 against visiting Calhoun. Garay (22 points), Gilbert (17) and Chris Flynn (10) scored double digits, and sophomore Hunter Sabety added seven points in a 74-63 win.

“We’ve played excellent man defense,” Keegan said. “I’m always concerned about the glass. We play four guards at times and we’ll probably give up height in every game.”

After a trip to Syosset to close out the week, Oceanside plays three of its next four at home. Massapequa visits on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Farmingdale hits town on Jan. 14. Both home games tipoff at 7 p.m.