Half Hollows Hills East Shocks Brentwood
Half Hollows Hills East HS Thunderbirds have faced some adversity in their non-league schedule games and have gained crucial experience. When we spoke to their coaching staff, before the game, they said, plain simply put, the team has been working hard and we need a signature win. They faced Brentwood HS Indians who are currently No.3 in our Long Island rankings. The game was held at Bayshore HS in an intense non-conference game.
The teams traded misses and turnovers before Hill East got on the board with a score and then had another bucket from 6’2” G Alan Brown (Half Hollows Hill East HS, NY ‘24). Brentwood missed, 5’10” PG Jordan Heyman (Half Hollows Hill East HS, NY ‘24) went 1/2 from the line. Indians knocked down a triple but 5’10” SG Ryan Zeh (Half Hollows Hill East HS, NY ‘24) buried a corner three. Indian's 6’5” SG Marquese Dennis (Brentwood HS, NY ‘24) got a steal after the Indians missed and found 6’3” F Devon Snell (Brentwood HS, NY ‘24) for a triple. Thunderbirds scored but the Indians knocked down a big three. Hill East came down for three, and Dennis knocked down a shot beyond the arc. Hills scored again but Snell was able to connect on another three ball.
The Thunderbirds had a slight lead after 5’4” PG Kahmel Wilmot (Brentwood HS, NY ‘28) scored. Wilmot found Dennis for an easy bucket and Hill East answered with a nice dunk. Brentwood canned a three, Brown converted an and1. Heyman scored after a Brentwood miss and then Zeh was able to get free for two. The Indians finished a tough and1, and Heyman went 1/2 from the line. Hills scored after a stop and Dennis drew a foul. He made a free throw, then Brown got ahead of everyone for a layup and in the final minutes Brentwood got a big three to cut East’s lead to 31-29 heading into halftime.
Half Hollow Hill East swung the ball around for an easy two. Brentwood’s big cleaned up a miss for two, and Heyman scored after a nice move. Then Dennis finished a nice put back after a miss. The gameplay started to get sloppy with bad passes, over dibbling, poor shot selection and the Thunderbirds press was causing problems. Heyman scored after a drought, and Dennis went 1/2 from the line. Thunderbirds scored and got two more free throws but Wilmot drew a foul plus converted both. Brentwood made two more freebies. Dennis had a monster block and then after drawing another foul the Indians big man made both cutting HHE’s lead to 1.
The score was 40-39 at the start of the 4th quarter when Zeh connected on a corner three. Wilmot knocked a triple, both teams traded tough baskets and then Snell was able to get a big basket to drop. The Thunderbirds were up 48-46 when Zeh hit another corner three, and Brentwood scored but Hill East was able to answer with a bucket. The Indians missed, and Brown hit two free throws after fouling out Brentwood’s big, they took a slight 52-48 lead with 2 minutes to go.
Hill East went 1/2 at the line after they forced a turnover. Snell scored and Hills East called a timeout. When they inbound the ball, it was close to the half-court line. After some contact Zeh fell, and was called for a travel. The Thunderbirds Head Coach erupted after some very inconsistent calls all day and received a technical foul. Wilmot stepped up as an 8th grader and made both but Brentwood turned it over. Despite plenty of time and only down by 1 Brentwood fouled. Heyman missed both and then the refs made another questionable call allowing Dennis to go 1/2 from the line.
Half Hollow Hill East Thunderbirds came down tied and got themselves in some trouble. They tried to call a timeout and when the whistle blew, the crowd could not believe what they heard. The referee gave Half Hollow East free throws as the fans booed. Heyman calmly made 1/2 to give his team the lead. Brentwood had some chances but Hill East secured the rebound pulling off a big upset.
They did it with heart, toughness, and defense. Brown led with 13-points, Zeh hit huge shots, adding 11 points. The MVP of the game was Heyman who chipped in 9-points as well as some clutch moments. Dennis, Snell and the 8th grade phenom all had 10-points apiece in a disappointing performance by the Indians. Brentwood will bounce back from this; they’re too good. The Thunderbirds could use this victory to fuel their whole season. We expect both teams to be tough to beat in the playoffs.