The Great Neck North Blazers kicked off the season on Monday, Dec. 3, at home versus the Warriors of Massapequa. After a slowed first half, the score was knotted at 17.
The Warriors opened the third quarter with a barrage of three pointers and, eventually, downed the Blazers 49-34.
Coach Linderman is trying hard to mesh this young, inexperienced crew. Not one player on the current Blazers varsity team had started in a game previously.
Matt Yaz led all scorers with 15, while Ethan Y., Nat Hyman and Jackson Cronin all chipped in offensively. Veteran Great Neck coach and scout Paul Levy was impressed with the Blazers energy and fight.
“This team will only improve as the season goes on,” he said.
Every player’s dream is to play for a packed house, where the energy and electricity is so thick you can touch it. Once a year, the Great Neck North (GNN)–Great Neck South (GNS) rivalry possesses such an environment.
This year’s contest was on the South Rebels’ home court and did not disappoint. Congrats to Coach Lieberz of GNS on notching his 400th career victory, as a presentation took place prior to the contest.
GNS took an early lead by nine points in the first Q, but Coach L. quickly changed his defense and went aggressive man to man. This proved successful as the Rebels only led
by one at the half. The second half was awesome.
“Back and forth—great high school game,” said Roslyn scout Jeff Sorkin.
Shawn Mac became a defensive force by rejecting eight shots in the contest, thus taking away any opportunity the Rebels had in scoring inside.
Deep threes by Kyle Kamali, Cronin and Gio kept the Blazers even with the Rebels going into the last minute of the contest, and then it was Yaz time. The effervescent senior turned on the jets, stealing the rock and hitting a game-winning floater, giving the Blazers a 48-47 victory.
The Blazers have two more non-conference games next week, and we will be there and keep you posted.
Next week, we will be writing about the strong JV team.
