Glen Cove Advances in Basketball Playoffs

Glen Cove boys basketball advanced to the second round of playoffs Friday with a thrilling 57-54 victory at home against Floral Park.

The Big Red received another stellar performance from junior guard Kewan Beebe, who scored 26 points in Friday's game, along with 15 points from Frankie Mickens. Yadilah Lettelier and Mauro Carignano contributed a combined 14 rebounds and 13 points.

"We hadn't played in eight days, so there was definitely some rust," said Coach Pete Falen after the game. "But we came through when it mattered most, if we keep up this intensity, and the crowd comes to support us like this, I think we'll win again."

Floral Park led Glen Cove 31-29 at halftime, and held a 9-point lead six minutes into the third quarter. The turning point came with 1:26 left in the third, when senior Chris Theodorou scored a layup and the freethrow granted after being fouled, bringing Glen Cove within six points.

"The truth is, we listened to our guys," Falen said. "Led by Frankie Mickens, they said we've gotta move to the 2-3 defense, we gave them a shot, one possession went to two possessions, and we kept the 2-3."

Glen Cove started the fourth with a three-pointer from Beebe and regained possession when Mickens forced a jump-ball, which was followed by a layup from Letellier.  

Beebe brought Glen Cove into the lead with another layup off a turnover forced by the Big Red defense, to make it 53-52. Glen Cove would not lose the momentum, and secured the victory.

"We played very intense on defense, we've been working on it," said Beebe, who appeared to be equally committed to defense throughout the game. "Next time, it's not going to be so close, we're going to keep moving forward."

Glen Cove will play at home on Wednesday at 2 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.

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