Taylor, Cohen lead South Side in Class A quarters

The ball clanging off the rim in the final seconds Friday night was a sight Brett Cohen and the South Side boys basketball team was glad to see. The Cyclones know they may have gotten away with this one.

Ahead by nine with three minutes left against a team they had beaten by an average of 17 points in two regular-season meetings, the third-seeded Cyclones held off No. 6 West Hempstead, 46-44, in a Nassau Class A quarterfinal at Hofstra.

"You said it," Cohen said when asked about the differential between the Cyclones' 66-47 and 77-62 wins in the two previous meetings against the Rams and Friday night's. "It took us a while to wake up. But us seniors, we realized that we don't want our season to end now."

But it nearly did. West Hempstead held to its plan and kept it low-scoring and rallied in the closing minutes. Then the Rams had the final possession with less than 20 seconds left, but Cameron Mitchell's jumper rimmed out as time expired.

And South Side (15-4), led by senior guard Leon Taylor's 16 points, was relieved. The Cyclones will play Westbury in a semifinal at 8 p.m. Friday at Hofstra.

"They threw something different at us with a 1-3-1 zone," the 6-5 Cohen said of the defensive look anchored by the Rams' 6-10 center Jamel Flash, who had six blocks.

Cohen said the defense frustrated the Cyclones and kept the pace slow. It was tied at 35 heading into the fourth quarter. "We weren't pressing and we should have been looking to run," said Cohen, who had nine points and 10 rebounds.

They did that at times, such as when Taylor forced one of his four steals and converted a three-point play that gave South Side a 38-37 lead two minutes into the fourth. It looked like the spark the Cyclones needed. They went on an 8-3 run to lead 46-40 with 2:04 left.

But they went scoreless afterward and West Hempstead (4-15) didn't. Daniel Minto (10 points) and Julian Clark (11) hit jumpers to pull the Rams within two with 27 seconds left. South Side then missed the front end of a one-and-one to set up the final possession.

"If we kept the game in the 40s or 50s, we'd have a chance," West Hempstead coach Ed Cosgrove said. "And we had an opportunity at the end."

Westbury advances. No. 2 Westbury overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 7 Manhasset, 67-65, behind 24 points from Sheldon Hagigal. Hagigal hit two free throws with 6.7 seconds left to give Westbury (15-4) a 67-62 lead. Evan Pupelis hit a three at the buzzer for Manhasset to make it a two-point final. Paris Abrams added 17 points for Westbury. Stu Hicks and Alessandro Troia led Manhasset with 16 points.