Glen Cove Boys Basketball Falls to West Hempstead

After a 71-56 loss to Manhasset on Wednesday, the Glen Cove (3-4) boys basketball squad needed a win against West Hempstead (4-3) to keep their hope for post season play alive. Unfortunately that plan didn’t come to fruition on a cold Friday evening in Glen Cove. With the absence of seniors Austin Bresky and Devin Hayes, who coach Peter Falen had sit out, Falen depended on juniors Dahkeem Williams and Mauro Carignano to play big minutes in the ball game. 

The Big Red, who only dressed eight of its players, played competitively in the first quarter of play. West Hempstead closed the quarter with a 10-6 lead.  The second quarter produced different results as the Big Red was noticeably uncomfortable in their annotated roles as they had shooting guards and small forwards handling point guard duties in Austin Bresky's absence. 

The much taller West Hempstead team bullied the smaller Glen Cove team in the post as will and full-court pressed the whole quarter with pesky defensive stops from Tyree Glascoe, who had six steals. The press that West Hempstead established converted easy buckets for Chris Thereau and Thomas Valerio.

“Their press hurt us and we didn't reverse the ball and didn't hit the middle," said Glen Cove coach Peter Falen.

The Tigers rebounded the Big Reds well. Glen Cove even struggled to inbound the ball. It was a trying half as Frankie Mickens struggled to gain any position against the bigger Juan Carlos Brito of West Hempstead.  

"We were killed on the boards,” said Falen. “The boards and press really hurt us."

The one bright spot in the second quarter was an off-balance fade away jump shot that junior forward Yadiyah Letellier sank as the buzzer sounded going into half time. Glen Cove seemed to have built a bit of confidence heading into the locker room, despite being outscored 24-13 in the second quarter.

The third quarter proved to be more of the same for the Big Red as they struggled to get position and combo guard Tyree Glascoe, continued to strip the ball and push the break for easy baskets. He scored at will on the Big Red en route to a game high 18 points. He added 5 assists.

West Hempstead had a 21 point lead going into the fourth quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Glen Cove trio of Johnny Fiorino, Chris Theodoreau, and Mauro Carignano began getting defensive stops and shut down West Hempstead's dribble penetration. The trio shrunk a 21 point margin to a 13 point game with 2:32 left in the game. It was too close for comfort for the West Hempstead who was no stranger to building big leads and losing the ball game after doing so against Floral Park in the first half of the season.

A sense of normalcy in this game formed after a full time out called by the Tigers. They scored two quick baskets to cement the lead and to take the win with a final score of 64-43.

Heroes: West Hempstead – Tyree Glascoe: 18 points 5 assists, Chris Therau: 15 points, Thomas Valerio 13 point. Glen Cove – Mauro Carignano: 12 points.

Turning point: Judging by the tempo that West Hempstead played, this game was pretty much decided in the first quarter. Basketball is definitely a game of wins and losses. But if there was any type of moral victories from this loss, there should be some consolation in knowing that despite only playing 7 players, bench guys like Mauro Carignano, Johnny Fiorino, and Dahkeem Williams stepped up.

Quotable: "Yesterday we had practice and we worked on how to break a press without putting the ball on the floor; unfortunately that didn't translate into the game tonight," said coach Peter Falen.

Bottom Line: With a loss this evening, the big Red is 3-4. They needed this game to stay afloat in the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the conference A-III. They are still in the thick of things as they are still clawing with Great Neck and West Hempstead.

Key Stat: Defensive rebounds by Juan Carlos Brito and steals by Tyree Glascoe of West Hempstead were pretty much the norm in this game. Brito had a game high 11 rebounds and Tyree Glascoe added 6 thefts.

Who's next: Glen Cove @ Great Neck North, Jan. 28, 6:30 p.m.

Boys Basketball - Conference A-III

Teams....................1......2.....3......4 – F

Glen Cove..............6......13....14...10 – 43

West Hempstead...10.....24....17....13 – 64