Thursday, October 1, 2026
When it comes to postseason basketball, when one player goes down there’s no time for a pity party. The philosophy of “next man up” is bought into or your team’s season will likely come to an end.
South Side suffered a significant loss when its starting point guard, junior Brandon Grayson, suffered a wrist injury in practice that will keep him out for the remainder of the season, but it didn’t derail the team’s ride to the Nassau County Class A boys’ Final Four.
Senior Alex Sorensen scored a game-high 29 points to lead No. 1 South Side to a convincing 74-42 victory over visiting Glen Cove in the quarterfinal round of the Class A playoffs on Feb. 18. No. 9 Glen Cove, which finished at 14-7, was led by Khalil Zachary’s 16 points. South Side (17-4) never trailed in the game played before a packed home crowd.
The Cyclones advanced to face Hewlett for the right to play in this Saturday’s county finals at 7 p.m. at LIU -Post. South Side beat the Bulldogs both times they met during the regular season. Paul Lonergan added 11 points for the Cyclones.
With Grayson, his 11.8 points per game, and his floor general skills on the bench, South Side needed others to rise to the occasion. Lonergan, senior captain Matt Diluccio, and a pair of big men, 6-foot-8 Tim Awosika and 6-foot-6 Matt Boranian, more than filled the void.
Diluccio played at breakneck speed, and his hard-nosed defense forced Glen Cove to turn the ball over numerous times, eventually leading an opposing player to commit an intentional foul out of sheer frustration.
While Awosika and Boranian didn’t light up the scoreboard, their defense and rebounding was outstanding, especially in the second half. When they weren’t rejecting shots, their presence in the paint altered nearly every scoring attempt by the Knights. Awosika pulled down 11 rebounds,
South Side head coach Jerry D’Angelo thought his two centers were difference makers. “They missed some short shots in the first half, but I think they motivated themselves at the half to perform better,” D’Angelo said. “Defensively, I thought they were very good. Timmy had a bunch of blocks, and when he wasn’t blocking them, he was intimidating. We did a real good job on the boards.”
Sorensen, the program’s all-time leading scorer, was as good as advertised. After sitting nearly all of the second quarter with two fouls, Sorensen caught fire in the third as the Cyclones turned an 11-point lead into a commanding 55-30 lead after three quarters. John O’Brien added 10 points.
Being without Grayson meant going a little deeper into the bench. “One of the nice things for us is that nine players have started games this season,” D’Angelo said. “We dealt with some adversity at the beginning of the season, so I think the guys were prepared for this. I think we’re playing well. We’re playing good basketball; very unselfish basketball.”
