The Rocky Point Eagles have advanced to the next round of the playoffs and could not have done it more excitingly.
The Eagles won 60-58 over Westhampton on Thursday night in a game that was as close as the score would indicate.
Casmere Morrow looked the part of a superstar right from the opening tip. Morrow, who has a banner hanging in the Rocky Point gym for scoring 1,000 points in his basketball career for the Eagles, was the player everyone had eyes on, and he proved to be every bit of that superstar.
The very first points of the game were scored by Morrow and his night was off to a fast start. That Rocky Point 2-0 lead would prove to be the situation for most of the game.
Although the Eagles were being out-rebounded under the basket early, they played excellent defense and held the lead for all of the early going. Morrow hit a big three early and his outside game proved to be as deadly as his inside presence as he hit two deep balls on the evening.
Westhampton was also firing away from three-point land but they simply weren't falling. There were some good looks and some ill advised deep shots, but the outside approach was a clear game plan that just wasn't effective against the Rocky Point defense. While the Westhampton three's were off the market, the Eagles were draining theirs, and after a Brody Kiernan deep shot the Eagles suddenly had a 12-6 advantage.
Westhampton decided to go big and play inside which resulted in a nice run to tie the game at 12 behind a stellar effort from their senior Jordan Bennett. Bennett had the play of the early going on a breakaway with a backwards dunk and highlight reel play that energized the visiting crowd.
The second quarter started much like the first with a back and forth game as we found ourselves tied at 19 a piece. That is when Morrow took over once again. He scored 9 straight points for the Eagles and became the center piece of the offense. Just before the half Morrow went down hard on his hip and was noticeably limping, but Rocky Point had taken a 34-25 lead just before the half. I asked him about the hip after the game and he said it was a hard fall but he "was alright and he would be fine."
Coming out of the locker room Morrow led the charge again but a three from the top of the key by Max Wignall, who had three deep threes go down on the night, gave the Eagles their biggest lead at 13 points. That lead would slowly disappear as Westhampton would not go down without a fight. Truman Hahn came out of the halftime locker room like a man on fire. He drained a three, followed it with a layup, and had a turnover on defense. He then drew a foul, hit both free throws and when his spark was done the lead was cut to just 6 points.
Malachi Bullock hit a shot with 1 second left on the 3rd quarter clock to cut the lead to 4 points and we headed into the 4th quarter with a 47-43 Rocky Point lead. The raucous Rocky Point crowd was getting antsy but it never stopped their enthusiasm. The student section made the playoff atmosphere as loud and energized as I have seen and you can sense this would be a dynamic fourth quarter.
The final quarter began with the teams exchanging baskets, like two heavyweights in the late rounds both hoping for that knockout punch. With 6:30 to play it was a two point game and you could cut the tension in the building with a knife. A once 13 point advantage was dwindled to just a basket and the Eagles were watching this one slip away.
After a controversial call of a double dribble under the basket, Westhampton drove the length of the court to tie the game and the visiting audience erupted as they could feel the momentum swing in their favor. These two teams were mirroring each other so much that we had back to back travel calls because of their suffocating defenses.
Goaltending was called and now Westhampton took the lead 54-52 with just under 3 minutes to play but Jeremy Sanchez decided to play some power ball under the basket. He grabbed two rebounds against much taller competition and came away with the ball, only to put it right back and tie the game at 54. That was followed by a big steal by Max Wignall and he polished off the exciting play with a slam dunk to take the lead and send the crowd into a frenzy with 2:31 to play.
After Bennett hit two free throws Wignall had ice in his veins and swished a corner three to give Rocky Point a one point lead with 1:18 to play. This was an ice cold answer for Wignall who had no fear taking that shot in such a tense moment.
The Eagles defense forced a turnover on a shot clock violation with under a minute to play and then they bled the clock with excellent team passing taking it down to five seconds to shoot. They drew the foul and knocked down one for two for the two point lead. After a bad pass by Westhampton and a missed shot under the net Rocky Point stormed the court and advanced to the next round.
Morrow led all scorers with 24 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds. Wignall finished with 21 points and three three pointers including that late dagger. Sanchez added 7, Kiernan had 5 and Evan Fernandez hit a three.
Rocky Point will now take on the #1 seed Wyandanch this Wednesday at 5 pm.