By ANDREW McCLURE
Every Friday night should be like this: An exuberant crowd packing the house to watch two rivals battle to the end on the basketball court.
In a game that saw the guests get out to a big lead, 11 three-point baskets by the hosts, and an inordinate amount of clutch shots, East Rockaway squeaked by Valley Stream South, 83-78, in overtime, at the Rock Palace.
East Rockaway's Blake Newman made five free throws in overtime to clinch the Conference ABC-III victory for the orange and black. Senior point guard Joe Collura scored a career high 30 points to lead all scorers. Senior Marcus Neita scored 29 to pace the Falcons. A clutch rebound and put back by Rocks senior Shane Murphy with three seconds left in regulation forced the extra session.
"This was about as good as it gets," East Rockaway coach Joe Lores said. "It was similar to games in the 70s when every Friday night was like this. The game had everything and then some."
Early on, it looked like the Falcons would run away with it. With a front court of three players 6-foot-4 or taller, South had a big advantage in the paint. The Rocks start just one player over six-foot tall. The Falcons scored the game's first eight points, and held a comfortable 23-12 lead with 3:43 remaining in the opening half. But, the Rocks fought back. After a missed dunk attempt by Neita, back-to-back threes by Collura and sophomore David Blessington helped the Rocks end the half on a 15-6 run to close the margin to two points.
East Rockaway, 8-1, came out on fire in the third quarter. Senior guard Frank Altamore, who had been mired in a shooting slump, knocked down a trio of three-point baskets in the first two minutes, the final one resulted in a four-point play as Altamore was fouled while shooting. But, South wouldn't go away. A three by sophomore Terrence Meaney and a 10-point quarter by Neita enabled the Falcons to tie the game at 50 as the end of three quarters.
The frenetic pace continued as the teams took the floor for the final eight minutes. Back-to-back baskets by junior guard Marc Castellano gave the Rocks the lead, but each time the Rocks scored, the Falcons answered. With Neita and 6-foot-5 senior Dariel Concha dominating inside, South held a 70-67 lead with just 50.4 seconds on the clock. With the shot clock running down, Collura hit a long three to tie the game. A tap in by Concha put the Falcons on top and set up Murphy's heroics.
In overtime, Altamore, who finished with 21 points, hit his fifth three of the game to put the Rocks up 77-72. Newman and Collura put the game away at free throw line.
East Rockaway visits Roslyn on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
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