A Quick 60
The Challenge
MSGVarsity.com Sports Talk
High School SportsDesk
Segura, Hicksville hold off Plainview-JFK
Plainview, NY – Hicksville was looking for a few things coming into Friday night’s boys basketball match-up between the Comets and the Plainview-JFK Hawks. For starters, they were looking to avenge a 46-43 loss to the Hawks on December 16. More importantly though, they were looking to extend their current winning streak to three games and jump over Plainview in the Nassau Conference AA-II standings.
Friday night they were able to do all of that with a 46-35 victory.
The Comets were led by Pablo Segura’s 16 points, Justin Tocays’ 10 points and 5 rebounds, and Terrance Danns’ 9 points and 14 rebounds.
Though, the person that really got Hicksville going in the first quarter was Nicholas Petrucelli. The junior guard led the way with five big points that included being on the receiving end of a beautiful no look pass by fellow guard Ryan Mannix. These two would hook up again later in the quarter in what looked to be the same exact play, but this time it was Petrucelli dishing it over to Mannix for the easy deuce. The bucket by Mannix capped a 10-2 run by the Comets to start the game.
Head Coach Phil Essigman’s team was able to extend the lead to 15-5 by the end of the first.
In the second quarter, a glaring hole in the Hicksville offense started showing its ugly head. The free throw line proved to be costly for the Comets as they missed their first six attempts from the charity stripe. This gave the Hawks an opportunity to keep pace with Hicksville. Senior Christopher Butigan scored six of his team-high 13 points in the quarter as Plainview-JFK headed into halftime trailing 25-16.
However, the third quarter was when Hicksville really clamped down on this game.
Plenty of tough, physical play in the early moments of the half, which is only to be expected by these two schools that are separated by merely four miles. The passion on the court wasn’t the only place you could find it though. The jam-packed gymnasium was filled with boisterous fans from each school that appeared to give their squad extra motivation as the game went on.
Hicksville outscored the Hawks 13-7 in the third, and despite a late push by Plainview-JFK that saw the lead get to seven in the early stages of the fourth quarter. Tocays scored back-to-back buckets to extinguish the threat, and his team would go on to the 46-35 victory.
Hicksville improves to 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the conference, while Plainview-JFK falls to 6-5 overall and an even 4-4 record in conference play.
Follow Bill on Twitter @MSGVBillMueller
Email him at WMUELLER@cablevision.com
Tri-State lacrosse Top 20: Week 4
Long Island power rankings: Spring sports
All-Metro boys and girls basketball: 2012-13
All-Long Island teams: Fall 2012
