Jericho boys basketball's Casey Deutsch hits go-ahead three-pointer, helps team advance in Nassau playoffs

Jericho’s 11-point advantage with 5:40 left in Thursday's Nassau AA opening-round clash had just totally dissolved — tie game with Bethpage, 7.4 seconds to go.

“I was thinking one thing — a play,” said Wally Bachman, Jericho’s longtime coach.

He borrowed it from his cousin, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino. It was a play Bachman saw at a Red Storm practice, a play he calls “Football.” His five guys line up out of bounds on the baseline like offensive linemen and then four take off like wide receivers. And then Casey Deutsch curls back around a screen to get the inbounds pass.

“Once Casey has the ball, I feel good,” Bachman said.

So out of a timeout, Deutsch received the pass, took a few dribbles and let fly from about 30 feet or so. The basketball hit the glass and dropped through the net with 1.2 showing on the clock in the Jayhawks’ gym, the last three of the standout junior guard’s 25 points.

Survive and advance: Fourth-seeded Jericho 53, No. 13 Bethpage 50.

“I was not aiming to bank it in,” Deutsch said. “It was kind of a prayer.”

It was answered.

“It was great, but we have a few more to go,” Deutsch said. “We’ve got to start preparing for the next one.”

The next one is a home quarterfinal Tuesday against No. 5 Manhasset.

“I just feel as a coach that we’ve been overlooked,” Bachman said.

They’re up to 18-3, and he’s up to 536 career wins. This will be a memorable one.

“Before the game, I wrote a big heart on the board,” Bachman said. “I said, ‘You play with your heart. Your heart has got to be bigger than their heart.’ And they play with heart. And they play defense.”

But they had a tough time defending against Justin Serio. The senior forward fueled Bethpage’s brilliant comeback, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the last 5:26.

Serio drove hard for the final two, and 45-34 Jericho had become 50-50.

“He’s got a lot of energy and he plays really hard,” Bethpage coach Jack Davenport said.

Then Deutsch, who arrived averaging 19.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.8 steals, ended it.

“He’s special,” Bachman said.

The 11-10 Golden Eagles led 17-14 after one quarter and 24-23 at halftime before Jericho went up 39-31 after three.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Davenport said. “It’s heartbreaking for the kids who worked so hard.”