Garden City Boys Basketball Loses Tough Game Against Roslyn

Friday night, in front of a good crowd, the Garden City varsity boys basketball team played their first home Conference match up against Roslyn High School.

The game started out slowly as both teams were cold from the field. With Roslyn closing down any penetration and playing solid zone defense, the Trojans had difficulty getting open looks at the basket.

But almost equally tough on the defensive side of the ball was the collapsing Trojan zone, not allowing Roslyn to work the ball into the low post without a challenge or a hand in the face of a shooter. The first quarter ended in a deadlock at five, not a big offensive outpouring for either side.

The second quarter started off with Roslyn moving the ball up court quickly and jumping out to a quick six-point lead but the Trojans battled back with tight defense and some inside scoring from Ed Blatz. The half ended with Roslyn up 17-16 after Garden City closed with the last five points of the second quarter to tighten the score.

The second half saw both teams make adjustments in their game and they got to the hoop more often. The bad news for Garden City was that they couldn’t get their shots to drop and Roslyn built an eight-point lead after three quarters.

The fourth quarter saw Garden City begin to get to the basket and either hit their shots or get a free pass to the foul line. Adding to their renewed offense, the Trojans' press on the defensive end of the court was beginning to pay off as they clawed back to within three. Although they kept up their intensity the rest of the way, Garden City was not able to get any closer and with a couple of late foul shots Roslyn left the gym with a 42-35 Conference win over Garden City.

Garden City was led by Ed Blatz with 19, Spencer Bais had 5, Devin Dwyer 4, Matt Quesada 4 and Dan Bonchonsky had 3.

The next home game is Friday, Jan. 27 versus Wantagh High School.