Hills East Boys Basketball Defeats Connetquot For Senior Night

The boys basketball team defeated Connetqut on Friday night, 48-46.  This was their final game at home, and a victory for Senior Night.

Hills East started the game slow, finishing the first quarter behind 9 points, 17-8.  They came back in the second quarter with senior Matt Garziano, sophomore R.J. Nitti and senior Jimmy Reiser shining with offensive rebounds.  They cut their deficit down to 25-24 by halftime.

In the third quarter, they took the lead for good with a three pointer by senior Andrew Steinberg.  Ending the third quarter at 37-34, Hills East seemed to take control of the game.

Connetquot came back in the fourth quarter with a three pointer at the 1:38 mark.  With the score now 45-44 Hills East, tension started to build.  Senior Billy Wesnofske hit a key 3-pointer to make the score 48-44 with 35 seconds left.  Connetquot then snuck in a 2-point shot to bring them up 48-46.  With only seconds left, Hills East went to the foul line three times on a one-and-one, missing all three opportunities.  Fortunately, Connetquot missed both of their last attempts to tie or win the game, giving Hills East their deserved win.

Head coach for Hills East, Peter Basel, was proud of his team's performance:  "It was a win for us on Senior Night.  Unfortunately we're not going to make the playoffs this year, but we did our best tonight and we'll be ready for next year."