By:Zack Richner
After beating No. 12 Bethpage 53-37 in round one, South Side advanced to play No. 13 Great Neck North, which had upset No. 4 Roosevelt in the opening round. The favored Cyclones charged out of the gate, dominating the first quarter of play.
Within minutes of the tipoff, it was apparent that it would be a special night for senior Nick Castro. He hit four 3-point shots in the first quarter to guide the team to a 27-15 lead, and his superb beyond-the-arc shooting continued throughout the game. He finished with 10 3-pointers, which is believed to be a South Side record. When the final horn blew, Castro had scored a career-best 34 points to help South Side beat Great Neck North 77-58. Senior co-captain Alex Anderson also had an impressive game, a double double, with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
But there was no doubt who the Cyclones- catalyst was. South Side coach Jerry D-Angelo described every shot that Castro took on the night as perfect, and explained that as the game wore on, he began to design plays for Castro. You gotta go to the hand that-s hot, the coach said.
Castro has always been a terrific scorer, but this year he has blossomed into a complete player. He has cut down on his turnovers and improved his defense tremendously. In fact, Castro is now considered one of South Side-s top defenders.
His improvement has helped South Side greatly. Opponents no longer can focus solely on the star, Anderson. With Castro, Anderson and last year-s leading scorer, senior co-captain Matt Simoneschi, South Side now has three prominent players who are capable of scoring 20 points in any game.
In the county semifinal game, South Side faced tournament favorite Great Neck South. The Cyclones- game plan was simple: play hard and start substituting early. D-Angelo had noticed that GNS had clinched most of its games in the second quarter, when its substitutes outplayed its opponents- subs. D-Angelo figured that if South Side could begin rotating in its bench players, he could send his fresh starters back in in the second quarter.
His plan worked perfectly. The Cyclones bench scored 20 points, led by junior Darnell Mayers and senior Karl Perryman, who had 9 points apiece. In addition, Mayers was assigned to guard GNS-s best player, and Perryman grabbed timely rebounds throughout the game.
South Side-s big three Anderson, Castro, and Simoneschi each finished the game in double digits, scoring 22, 17 and 15 points, respectively. Castro continued his hot shooting from beyond the arc, converting five 3-point shots to give him 15 3-pointers in two games.
With contributions from both its starters and its bench, South Side upset Great Neck South 81-66.
The Cyclones now prepare to face No. 6 Jericho in the championship game this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at SUNY-Old Westbury. Like South Side, Jericho comes off an upset victory, over Floral Park. Though South Side is seeded higher than Jericho, the Cyclones can-t take the game lightly, D-Angelo says.
The coach wasn-t surprised by Jericho-s win over Floral Park, citing Jericho-s tough conference as the reason for its low seeding. According to D-Angelo, Jericho has a very good starting five. Jericho is a very well-balanced team, he said. They have a solid point guard and a solid shooting guard. They also have a very athletic center, and their forwards are good role players.
Jericho-s biggest disadvantage, however, is its bench, whereas one of South Side-s greatest strengths is its depth. As the season has progressed, D-Angelo has become more comfortable going to his bench and more confident in the bench players- scoring abilities.
With players like Mayers, Perryman, senior Dwayne Fielder and sophomore Bobby Hayes at D-Angelo-s disposal, the Cyclones can have reliable players on the floor throughout a game. Additionally, South Side received a welcome surprise last week when senior co-captain Tom Walsh played for the first time this year. Walsh, who missed the regular season with a broken thumb, played two minutes of the Great Neck North game.
Though his return was overshadowed by Castro-s 3-point explosion, Walsh not only adds outstanding play to the Cyclones- bench, but increases the team-s size considerably. D-Angelo also hasn-t ruled out starting Walsh in the championship game, where he would once again be the team-s starting center.
South Side will have five intense days of preparation for the championship game, during which D-Angelo vows to get back to basics. We-ll run a lot of rebounding drills, passing drills, shooting drills, he said. I want to recapture that intensity that we had the first week of the season, coming out of tryouts. And of course we-ll look at a ton of video.
Ironically, however, the Cyclones may not have to look at that much video. South Side and Jericho know each other very well, since they attend basketball camp together each summer. D-Angelo describes the teams as friendly rivals, and believes their knowledge of each other puts both teams at an advantage.
The Cyclones know that Jericho is a hard-working team that won-t quit. South Side is also familiar with Jericho-s aggressive half-court defense, which D-Angelo says the Cyclones will combat by limiting their own turnovers.
South Side has reached the final with great shooting, strong rebounding, stingy defense and unselfish play, strengths the Cyclones will continue to depend on as they seek a county championship.
We-re confident, D-Angelo says. Not cocky, but confident.
