Garden City beats Hewlett, advances to Nassau Class B final
Garden City's Kyle Steinbach (10) fires a shot and scores in the first quarter during the Nassau Class B boys lacrosse semifinal between Garden City and Hewlett on Wednesday, May 24, 2017, at Hofstra University. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Garden City scored as many goals in the first quarter Wednesday night against Hewlett as it did in six quarters against the Bulldogs on May 3. “We finally figured out their zone,” Trojans attack Luke Keating said.
Keating and fellow senior J.P. Basile were in a zone of their own, scoring four goals each as Garden City beat Hewlett, 14-2, in a Nassau B semifinal at Hofstra. “We watched film and worked on beating the zone,” said Basile. “We attacked it.”
The attack began early. Basile scored unassisted in the second minute and converted a pass from Keating in the third minute. The Trojans led 4-1 after one, 7-2 at the half and blew it open with four in the third quarter before turning the final period over to their reserves. Keating scored three times in the third and Basile had the other one.
“We’re really starting to click on offense. Early dominance was huge and the key to the game,” Basile said after the Trojans improved to 14-3 and advanced to the county final on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Hofstra against Manhasset. Hewlett finished 11-5.
This was a far different game than the regular-season meeting, which the Trojans won, 4-3, on a goal by Jamie Atkinson in double-overtime off a feed from Basile. “We didn’t really know how to deal with the zone,” said Keating, who also had two assists. “We don’t see a lot of zones, but it’s a good idea because we have a lot of guys who can beat their man.”
Ball movement is the prescribed way to combat zones, and Garden City was masterful, compiling eight assists. “Sling the ball around, make the skip pass and you can dodge against a zone, but it has to be at the right level,” Keating said. “Once we heard we were playing Hewlett, we studied a lot of film and the coaches put in a lot of new plays.”
Most of them worked. “Everything is going very fast and everything is clicking,” Basile said. “We’re an unselfish team and we usually have a lot of assists. We are going into the final with confidence.”
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
