By Zack Richner
South Side's defeat of West Hempstead, in the semi-final round, was West Hempstead's first loss of the season.
The Cyclones entered the playoffs on a four-game winning streak, and finished the season with 17 wins and only five losses overall. The last home game of the season was Senior Night, an annual event in which the graduating players and their parents are honored before the start of the game. This year, senior co-captains Darnell Mayers and Mike Peluso, and seniors Eddie Ege, Doug Finkelstein, Dan Marrone, and Chris O'Connell, were honored.
After the ceremonies, South Side gave the large crowd plenty to cheer about. In the game, Ege led the team with 22 points, and Mayers added 17, as South Side defeated visiting Garden City, 70-61. Peluso also had an impressive game, knocking down 3 three-pointers, en route to a 17-point performance.
Though the victory secured the team a second-place conference finish, playoff expectations were not as high this year as they were last year, when South Side also finished second in the conference and won the county championship. Yet, with ten seniors having graduated from last year's team, coach Jerry D'Angelo knew that repeating last year's success would be a difficult task.
"This year, our team is scrappier than last year's," the fourth-year coach said. "We might not be as talented as last season, but we do the little things better. We take charges. We dive for loose balls. Theses are the things we preach every day."
Assistant coach Artie Schnabel, however, believes that there is more to the success of the team than its scrappy play.
"In his four years here as coach," Schnabel said, "Jerry has become, I believe, a top-five coach in Nassau County. His dedication and hard work are second to none. He continually watches the kids with their grades, and not only during the season, but throughout the full year."
But, there is one factor that both the coaches and players agree has contributed to the team's success: The White Knights. This group of approximately 40 fans, the majority of whom are senior males at South Side, attended every home game throughout the season, and many away games as well, leading cheers and chanting players' names. Always wearing white outfits, the group of fans dubbed themselves the White Knights.
"I love the support," D'Angelo said. "My players love coming into an atmosphere with kids supporting them. It gives us a huge energy boost."
Mayers echoed his coaches' sentiments. "The White Knights definitely help our team a lot. They get into the other team's head and make them play worse, but mostly, and more importantly, they make us play better because of the support."
The White Knights continued with their support throughout the playoffs, but even the chants of "defense" were not enough to stop the sharp-shooting Floral Park team in the county title game.
After the two teams exchanged baskets for much of the first quarter, Floral Park pulled away by hitting three unanswered three-pointers-all within one minute and seven seconds of each other. When a Floral Park player hit a three-pointer from nearly half court as time expired in the quarter, it became clear that perhaps it just would not be South Side's night.
At halftime, South Side trailed by 16, as the team had converted only four of 13 free throw attempts successfully. South Side would not pull within 11 points for the rest of the game, and lost 60-46.
"We got such a sense of fulfillment beating West Hempstead [in the semifinals], but that should not have been the goal," D'Angelo said. "We just didn't shoot the ball well, and we didn't play with the same intensity that we had during the entire season."
The team's defeat emanated throughout the high school.
"It was very disappointing," said South Side senior Alex Heller, a member of the White Knights. "I didn't think they played as well as they could have, but it was a good season, and they went further than everyone thought they would go."
Now, South Side looks towards next year, when once again its returning players are largely inexperienced. The only starter returning next year is junior co-captain Bobby Hayes. But it's OK, stated D'Angelo. "We will be there next year for one specific reason-we play hard here at South Side. That's just our tradition."
