Garden City Boys Varsity Basketball

The Garden City boys varsity basketball team closed out their road trip and notched one in the win column on Wednesday, January 31st with a punishing 62-34 victory at Glen Cove.

The game's opening quarter was tight, ending at 13-12, as the Trojans debuted a new starting line-up who had to get used to each other. Juniors Pat Reeves and Hayden Fries joined Harry Kutner, Rob Finneran and Ryan Beckstead on the floor at the opening tip.

In the second quarter, Garden City blew the game open on a 25-8 run led mainly by the season-long deadly dual threat of the outside shooting of Kutner and the inside dominance of Finneran. The half-time score, 38-20, was capped by a long three-pointer at the buzzer by Kutner.

By the final buzzer, fourteen players scored as Coach Steimer substituted early and everyone played. Kutner (17 points with 5 threes) and Finneran (double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds) were the only ones to post double figures. Finneran again dominated the boards and intimidated Glen Cove's early attempts to generate an inside game with four emphatic blocks.

Then on Friday, February 2nd, the Trojans (5-4 league), in their first home game in a month, met Sewanhaka (6-3) in a battle for first place and avenged their needless 7 point loss earlier this season at Sewanhaka, decisively beating the Indians 61-47. This game was initially close as the Trojans took a 3-point first quarter lead, but they extended it in each of the final three quarters.

Garden City's shooting was not particularly effective in the first quarter as shot after shot rimmed out, but their defense suffocated Sewanhaka, holding them to a mere 5 points. Kutner was assigned the job of shadowing the Indians' main 3-point shooter, and was effective as he deprived him of the opportunities he had in the first game.

The second quarter was similarly tight, but the Trojans doubled their lead to 6 at the half-time buzzer as Ryan Beckstead (7 points) sunk a high-arcing, long-range three.

Kutner led Garden City with 18 points including 2 three(s), and Rob Finneran had another double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Owen Ludeman came off the bench to contribute 8 critical points down the stretch to repel a Sewanhaka comeback try.

The Trojans will play their final games of the regular season, both at home, on Friday, February 9th (7:00 p.m.) against Wantagh, and in the first Monday game on February 12th (7:00) against North Shore. The North Shore game will be "Seniors' Night" as Harry Kutner, Rob Finneran, Matt Emmert, Owen Ludeman and John Haskoor will close out their high school careers.

(For the schedule, see "GCAthletics.org/winter").