Boys basketball: Hen Hud storms back to beat Nanuet after hearing the clock ticking
Mike DoughertyMONTROSE – Hen Hud bought a little more time.
Geno Wamack and Michael Gagliardi fueled an improbable comeback Thursday, earning another game with a 51-48 victory over Nanuet in a Section 1 Class A out-bracket game.
The Sailors were down 12 with less than seven minutes to play.
“It could’ve been our last game together,” said Gagliardi, a senior guard. “A lot was on the line. I guess that switch just flipped in our heads.”
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Hen Hud scrambled the fourth quarter, closing on a 20-5 run.
The energy was beginning to fade when Wamack connected on an off-balance shot from behind the arc with 3:14 to play. It was a forced attempt to be sure, but the Sailors needed one last spark and the gym erupted when it fell and cut the deficit to five.
“It wasn’t a great shot, but I had to take that one for my team,” the junior guard said. “It motivated me to keep shooting. It motivated the team to keep giving the effort.”
Wamack scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and got Hen Hud on top 47-46, dropping another 3 with 1:11 to go. Dan Nyamollo elevated and answered with a pull-up from 15 feet to get the Golden Knights back on top. He blocked a runner by Wamack at the other end, but Gagliardi secured the loose ball and scored a second-chance bucket with 34 seconds to go.
He also came up with a critical defensive board after Nanuet came down and missed with 17 seconds remaining.
“This program hasn’t gotten a playoff win in five years, so it was good to get one,” Gagliardi said. “I was a kid in those stands when they won that game so I’m glad to get one with the guys I’ve grown up with.”
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What it means
Hen Hud advances to play Saturday at Tappan Zee, which is the No. 1 seed on the small school side of the Class A bracket. It will likely be a low-scoring affair based on the scrappy nature of both teams.
Player of the game
Along with providing the spark needed to keep the comeback rolling, Wamack contributed 18 points.
By the numbers
No. 9 Nanuet (9-12): Nyamollo finished with 21 points. … James Moran added 11 points. … Jack O’Sullivan and Brandon Frazier scored eight apiece.
No. 8 Hen Hud (11-10): Gagliardi finished with 15 points. … Dean Hiltsley added nine points and Thomas Popolizio finished with seven points.
They said it
“They call him ‘Big Shot Geno’ for a reason,” Gagliardi said. “It’s just a great feeling to see one of my boys do that.”
“They just came out in the fourth with a lot of energy and switched to man,” Nyamollo said. “We didn’t handle it well. We couldn’t hit shots. We had some tough breaks when they started pressing. We missed some layups, had some turnovers.”
Mike Dougherty covers basketball for The Journal News and lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com or via Twitter @lohudhoopsmbd.