High School East Varsity Basketball Team Defeats Deer Park

In their first non-league game of the season, the Half Hollow Hills East varsity basketball team defeated Deer Park at their home court in a 64-63 comeback.  The game was decided in the last minute.

Hills East started off strong, ending the first quarter with an 18-9 lead.  Things slowed down a bit for them in the second quarter, as they fell behind 34-27 at halftime.  Their dry spell continued into the third quarter, down by 9 points at the end of the third, 54-45.  

Despite the score on the board, their team spirit and devoted fans remained positive and strong.  Halfway through the fourth quarter, they started to gain momentum and were down by only 6 points.  At the two-minute mark, they were down only by 1.  With 6.7 seconds left to go, and still down by 1, Kenron Lawrence scored the winning FG on a layup, ending the game, 64-63.

For the majority of the game, Hills East's defense kept Deer Park out of the paint.  This restricted them to 3-point shots, and while they scored a total of eight 3-pointers, it wasn't enough for them to hold Hills East over.  They secured their victory with a strong defense and passing.

Billy Wesnofske scored a game-high 17 points.  Tyler McKenzie scored 14 and Kenron Lawrence scored 11.  Wesnofske scored the only 3-pointer on the team, and went 8-8 from the foul line.

Head coach for Hills East, Pete Basel, commented on his team's performance:  "We played really hard tonight.  We're a team of mostly seniors, and they brought all their skills tonight...we started off this season strong."

 Their first league game is against Northport on December 21st.