Wantagh Boys Basketball Falls to New Hyde Park

The boys basketball team fell to New Hyde Park at home 53-48 Tuesday night. The game was neck and neck for the most part but the New Hyde Park Gladiators pulled out the win with some last second foul shots.

Heroes: New Hyde Park head coach Don Rood credited Alex Chadli for setting the Gladiators on the path to victory. Chaldi made the three point shot that put New Hyde Park up at the half, which was critical for the team. “We were chasing them,” Rood said of his team before Chadli’s shot. “But it’s hard to come back and have to chase.”

For Wantagh, John Reicherter was the team’s highest scorer with 22 points and seemed to often find a way to shake off New Hyde Park’s defense.

Turning point: With two and a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter, New Hyde Park began to put a wider margin between their score and Wantagh’s.  This started with a three-point shot by Towey, which brought the score to 43-45 and then a minute later he added to the lead by making two foul shots. From that last minute and a 30 seconds on, with foul shot after foul shot, New Hyde Park’s score went from 47 points to 53.

During that time period, other than a three-pointer by Mike Tomeo and earlier a basket by Reicherter, Wantagh missed a few of its shots, which also helped to seal their fate.

Quotable: “At first, we weren’t playing our game,” explained New Hyde Park Head Coach Don Rood. “We were playing half court and with a slow tempo. In the third quarter and toward the end of the game, we used our press to pick up the pace.”

Wantagh Head Coach Keith Hunter said of the game, “I’m extremely disappointed. We’re at a point where any team can beat any team in this league. But we made simple, little mistakes.”

Bottom line: Rood noted that the team’s foul shots at the end of the game were critical. He added that New Hyde Park’s defense was solid.

Hunter said that his seniors need to put more pressure on themselves to play better. “We felt comfortable with the ball inside,” he said, adding, “we were making baskets and we got them into some foul trouble. But then we went away from the game plan and were forcing and overplaying the game. We were missing layups.”

Who’s Next? Wantagh is next in action tonight at home against Division starting at 6:45 p.m.

Wantagh vs. New Hyde Park        1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... F

New Hyde Park ........................ 12 . 11 .. 13 .. 17 .. 53

Wantagh .................................. 10 .. 10 .. 8 .. 20 .. 48

W: Reicherter 12-4-22, Justice Perez 6-0-6, Ryan Walsh 4-2-6, Sean Devito 0-2-5, Brandon Devine 4-0-4, John Ingrilli 2-0-2. Three pointers: Reicherter 2, Devito, Tomeo.

NHP: Joseph Justice 10-7-20, Towey 6-7-19, Greg Simeon 6-3-9, Faizal Hussein 2-0-2. Three pointers: Justice, Towey 2, Chadli.