By Joe Scotchie
jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com
The first week of the new year saw the Roslyn Bulldogs continue their winning ways on the basketball court. After an away game loss to South Side, Roslyn bounced back with two home game wins.
On Jan. 7, the Bulldogs pounded the boards to take a 61-54 win over Hewlett. Jonah Tenner pulled down 12 rebounds and added six points. Roslyn jumped out to a 27-21 halftime lead and maintained their advantage in the second half. Three Bulldogs scored in double digits: Keandre Augustine (17), Spencer Markbreiter (14) and Omar Burns (10).
That win was followed by 64-61 home win over Wantagh. Once again, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 21-15 first quarter lead and held off a fourth quarter rally by the visiting Warriors. Wantagh outscored Roslyn, 22-15 in the final frame, but clutch free throw shooting by Jared Cohen sealed the win. As always, the Roslyn scoring attack was well-balanced, with nine Bulldogs making it into the scoring column. Omar Burns had his best game of the year, scoring 18 points and bringing down nine rebounds. Burns was the only Bulldog in double digits. He was backed up by Augustine, who had nine points and Cohen, who scored all seven points from the free throw line. Obviously, the Wantagh defense followed the wrong man.
The loss to South Side was Roslyn’s first in Conference A-II play. As of press time, Roslyn is 5-1 in conference play an 7-4 overall. South Side is undefeated in conference play. But Roslyn will have a chance to get even in a Friday, Jan. 29 rematch, a game to be held at 6:30 p.m. at Roslyn High School. In between, the Bulldogs will travel to New Hyde Park on Jan. 13 for a 4:30 p.m. road game. That will be followed by a Friday, Jan. 15 road game at Roosevelt starting at 6:30 p.m. Roslyn returns home for a 6:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, Jan. 20 against Plainedge. On Saturday, Jan. 23, Roslyn travels to Plainedge for a noon matchup. After that, it’s the big game against South Side. Coach Craig Murphy will make sure that his charges aren’t looking ahead to the South Side showdown. In the meantime, basketball fans don’t want to miss out on any of these games as Roslyn, once again, battles for a conference crown.
