Long Beach high school was able to escape with a win Friday night 54-46 over their hosts, Herricks high school, to remain unbeaten at 13-0 on the year.
“They played hard until the end and they got the win… it is a pretty important win and we got one more to go perfect,” said head coach of Long Beach high school Scott Martin.
The key players for Long Beach were Jaden Barwicki who poured in 18 points on the night and Alex Bauer who added 17 of his own. In the first half both teams came out a little sluggish struggling to score the ball. After a while they got into their groove and Long Beach was able to pull away to secure a 29-21 halftime lead.
As the defensive tenacity picked up for both teams, a total of 18 points were scored between both sides as we saw each team begin to pressure the ball 80 feet from the basket. The third stanza ended with Long Beach leading 39-29 as they looked rejuvenated to start the fourth quarter. Jacob Cochran was a force in the paint for the visiting team, as he started to block shots near the paint to preserve his team’s lead in the game. Cochran’s blocked shots led to transition buckets for his team as they picked up several fouls in the open court, while sinking the shot, to grow their lead. From the fourth quarter on, Long Beach looked more like the physical team grabbing every rebound and converting it for easy second chance points.
In the final minute of play however, Herricks would make it a game, and cut the deficit to within three off a three-pointer by Zaid Momon. Herricks would have to play the foul game with Long Beach however and they capitalized on their free throws to put the game away.
“ The way the kids play together, and the intensity that they bring and the match up plays that we have, give us great matchups on most of the other teams,” Martin said.
Dan Yu led Herricks with 11 points on the night and was their only scorer in double- figures. Herricks high school now moves to 3-15 on the year and will look to regroup against Garden City on Monday night.
Long Beach will seek perfection, against Great Neck South on Monday at 4:45 p.m.
