By:Zack Richner
It was a busy week for the South Side boys- basketball team. The team played three games in four days. However, fatigue never appeared to faze the team, as South Side came away victorious in all of its games.
South Side-s first game of the week was Tuesday against conference rival Manhasset. Before the game, South Side coach Jerry D-Angelo said that the key to winning would be good rebounding and denying penetration to Manhasset-s three quick guards. D-Angelo said that the team planned to contain the trio by using many different defenses.
In the first quarter, however, South Side failed to rebound. The quarter ended with the Cyclones trailing Manhasset by seven, 21-14. Then, early in the second quarter, South Side senior Carl Perryman was involved in a minor scuffle with an opponent that seemed to ignite the team. From that point, South Side rolled.
With a resurgence in its rebounding and by using a variety of defenses, South Side went on a 15-5 run. The Cyclones took the lead 29-26 when senior co-captain Alex Anderson hit a field-goal and converted the and one free-throw. Freshman Bobby Hayes capped the Cyclone-s impressive half by hitting a field-goal as time expired and then converted the and one free-throw. South Side finished the half leading by nine, 43-34.
South Side lead by as many as 19 in the game, and finished the game with 94 points to Manhasset-s 80.
The big story in the game, however, was Anderson. In his second game back from a strained rib cage, Anderson showed why he is South Side-s star player. He narrowly missed a triple double, finishing the game with 10 rebounds, nine assists, and 31 points, all team highs.
This was a huge conference game for us, Anderson said. My teammates and myself tried to pull it together and get us a win. The crowd really was awesome and helped us get back in it.
Anderson, who is considering attending Hamilton, Hartwick, and Kingspoint, among others, for college, continued his prolific production in the Cyclone-s second game of the week on Thursday. Anderson had 13 points, as South Side dominated Lynbrook 67-36. Three different cyclones finished the game having scored in double figures: Anderson, senior Nick Castro, who had 14 points, and junior Darnell Mayers, who led the team with 15 points.
South Side-s last game of the week was an even more impressive showing than its first two games. South Side blew out Seaford by 38 points, 64-26. All 14 players on the Cyclone-s roster saw playing time, and 12 different players contributed to the scoring. Anderson once again led the way, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
South Side, which is currently in first place with an 8-1 record, next battles second place Plainedge this Friday on the road.
