South Side Ends Wantagh Boys Basketball Season in Quarterfinals

The boys basketball team cut an eight-point South Side halftime lead to four with two minutes left in the third quarter of their quarterfinal playoff matchup against the Cyclones on Wednesday night. However, a decisive 10-2 fourth quarter run fueled by South Side's stingy defense sealed the victory for the Cyclones, 68-57, and put an end to a successful Wantagh season. 

Senior forward Ryan Spadaford, who started his first game in more than three weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain, shined in his return, leading the second-seede Cyclones (17-2) with 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. He also nailed three, three-pointers.

"I saw when I caught the ball, they had the big kid, No. 40 on help side," Spadaford said of what the defense was giving him."I thought once I beat my man, I was going to have a layup because he was too slow react to it."

Spadaford nearly had a double-double at half, finishing the first two quarters with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Tenth-seeded Wantagh (9-10) cut South Side's lead to four with two minutes left in the third quarter, but senior wingman Kevin Coyle drained a three-pointer to push the lead back to seven. Wantagh head coach Keith Hunter said Coyle's three deflated the Warriors' run.

"I whispered to one of my guys, 'If we get it to two, they're going to feel the pressure and I think we're going to take it,'" Hunter said. "And I think it was Coyle who hit a three that brought it back to seven. It was kind of a heartbreaker."

Wantagh had advanced to Wednesday's quarterfinal round with a win at Mineola Friday night. 

Wantagh's leading scorer Justin Perez, who finished with 21 points, opened the fourth quarter with a slicing move to the basket to cut South Side's lead to four at 46-42. The Cyclones then clamped down on defense and forced a couple of Wantagh turnovers that led to a 10-2 Cyclones run, capped by a highlight reel, fake-around-the-back pass layup by Robert Piccione.

By the end of the run, South Side held a 56-44 lead and never looked back. Head Coach Gerry D'Angelo said it was that defensive fourth-quarter stand that sealed the win.

"We had a good defensive spurt," he said. "We forced some turnovers that got us easy layups in transition. I think that was the difference."

South Side will play Jericho in the semifinals at SUNY Old Westbury on Tuesday.

Coach Hunter was proud of the effort put in by Perez. 

"He's unbelievable,"Hunter said. "He's not even our tallest guy and he averages about 14 rebounds a game. I'm very proud of him. He should hold his head up high." 

Hunter was also proud how his team competed despite the season-ending loss. 

"We came here looking for respect," he said. "I think keeping it close, we at least got a little bit of that."