Bulldogs Edge Deer Park, 49 - 46
BABYLON, NY - These two towns have always have one of the best rivalries on Long Island and today it was evident. The game came down to the wire as both clubs played hard for all 32 minutes. Let’s look at what happened.
North Babylon got the first hoop as 5’8 PG Kameron Quinn ‘25 blew by his man for a quick layup, but the Falcons responded with a deep three then got fouled making an inside basket. Deer Park missed the free throw when 6’3” SF Nate Gordon ‘23 soared in for the offensive putback pushing the lead to 7-2 causing a North Babylon timeout. While both teams weren’t executing early on Deer Park had some momentum as they drilled another three but then gave up an easy layup and put 5’10” PG Pat Washington ‘23 on the line who converted both.
Gordon stole the ball for an easy bucket then got an offensive putback on the following possession. Washington hit a three, then scored after the Falcons missed a pair of free throws but Gordon answered with a big basket. Deer Park led 16-11 after the first and Gordon continued to impose his will as he finished yet another offensive put back. North Babylon hit a three, Washington knocked down a three throw, but Gordon came down and scored again. Quinn had a big bucket for the Bulldogs who took advantage of Gordon being in some foul trouble. North Babylon cut the lead to 3 and the horn went off as the score was now only 22-19 DP.
Falcons got a nice inside finish from their big man, but the Bulldogs answered with a layup of their own and then a big corner three. Deer Park hit back-to-back gigantic threes, but North Babylon refused to quit as Quinn got free again. He finished a layup then found a teammate who converted a pair of free throws.
The game had a good back and forth but a got a bit chippy with Deer Park getting a few questionable foul calls then showing their frustration. They then hit threes on back-to-back possessions stretching the lead, but the Bulldogs found an open player at the top of the key who knocked down a three. While the clock was winding down the Bulldogs got a late layup to tie it up at 36 a piece heading into the fourth.
Deer Park brought back in Gordon who started the scoring with a three for the Flacons. North Babylon hit an open corner three against the zone, Falcons hit a nice pull up after a few empty possessions each. Deer Park had a 41-39 lead with 4:50 to go when Washington got loose and hit a three, but Gordon came back down for a quick deuce.
Washington calmly made two free throws, his teammate went 1/2 and Deer Park made a deep three. North Babylon got fouled and made their free throws, Deer Park had chances to score couldn’t sending the Bulldogs to the line. Must give credit to NB who only had two baskets but went 7/10 in the quarter at the line.
The Falcons foul troubles ended up costing them even though they still had opportunities to win. North Babylon earned a quality 49-46 win, proved they’re a tough competitive team plus showed extraordinarily strong guard play. Washington was our player of the game finishing with 13 points, a couple of assists and some big plays while Quinn added 11 points. Gordon led all scorers with 17 and was sensational when he was on the floor, really showed us he could make an impact at the next level.