Friends throw Rocks for loss

Senior guard Travis Hefele scored a season-high 23 points to lead visiting Friends Academy to a 57-46 win over East Rockaway in a Conference B-C boys’ basketball game last Friday night. Sophomore center Kellan Sehring scored 14 points and pulled down 16 rebounds for the Quakers. The Rocks, who fell to 6-5 overall and 3-5 in conference play, were led by sophomore David McClure’s 13 points. It was the third loss in a row for East Rockaway.

Head coach Joe Lores think the team needs to get back to what was working earlier in the season. “We’ve kind of lost where we were getting our points from,” Lores said. “At the beginning of the season, our offense was going through our big man. We’ve gotten away from that. We just don’t have a good flow to our offense, and we’re not shooting the ball well at all.

After East Rockaway jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, the Quakers went on an 18-2 run that carried into the second quarter. Friends led 29-15 at the half. 

The Rocks cut the lead to nine in the third quarter, but a questionable call by the officials, followed by outstanding free throw shooting by Friends, ended any chance of an East Rockaway comeback. Hefele was 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the second half. The Quakers improved to 7-3, including 6-1 in Conference B-C. Junior guard Michael Lores had 10 points for East Rockaway.

After back-to-back wins over Shelter Island and Carle Place, the Rocks took on defending Long Island Class B champion Malverne. East Rockaway gave the Mules everything they could handle in a 60-58 loss. In the waning seconds, McClure beat his man off the dribble, but saw his shot bounce off the rim at the buzzer. McClure, who is averaging 11 points per game, led the Rocks with 18 points. Sophomore Andre Berry had a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Mules.

East Rockaway rebounded nicely from the loss by knocking off visiting Locust Valley 58-50. Senior Matt Fuller, who leads the team with 11.7 points per game, scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 16 boards to lead the Rocks. Senior Enrico Magliocchi added eight points for East Rockaway. McClure knocked down 9-of-10 free throw attempts in the final quarter to sew things up.