South Side falls short

Led by Sheldon Hagigal, Westbury took full advantage of a late South Side meltdown to win Monday’s Nassau Class A boys’ basketball semifinal game at Hofstra, 71-61, in overtime.

Hagigal, who poured in 37 points, pulled the Green Dragons even with a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining in regulation and went on to dominate the four-minute overtime. He scored nine of Westbury’s 16 OT points, including two following a technical foul with 2:27 left that swung the momentum on its side for good.

“Both teams played their hearts out,” South Side coach Jerry D’Angelo said. “It was a classic high school basketball game, but it would’ve been better if we came out on the winning side.”

The Green Dragons were fortunate late in regulation as the Cyclones (15-5), up two points, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 12 seconds to go and were whistled for a questionable foul call at the other end that sent Hagigal to the line where he tied it.

“There isn’t one play I can look back on and say it cost us,” D’Angelo said. “I thought we played really well until we got to overtime.”

Seniors Brett Cohen (18 points) and Leon Taylor (17) led the offense for the Cyclones, who led 55-52 with 1:30 remaining in regulation after a Cohen free throw. Senior Julius Jones added 13 points, including a trey to start overtime before the Green Dragons exploded for 14 straight points. 

Hagigal had the exclamation point, a dunk with less than a minute to go to make it 68-58.

“I’ll try to remind the kids about the great season we had leading up to this game,” D’Angelo said. “We’re all disappointed in the way it ended, but I’m proud of them.”