DIX HILLS, NY – Tuesday’s matchup featured two League 1 AA West opponents at Half Hollow Hills East High School. Hills East looks to defend their title with a whole new cast of characters while Copiague looks to play spoiler. Let’s breakdown the game for you.
Hills East graduated almost all their rotation from last year but do return 5’11” PG Jordan Heyman (Hills East ‘24) who got great experience last year and plays Quarterback for the foot all team. He got the scoring started for East then found 5’11” SG Ryan Zeh (Hills East ’24) who knocked down a three. Heyman got free inside for another basket when Copiague finally scored and was able to nail a three. The teams traded baskets, Eagles missed a pair of free throws and Heyman blew by his defender for an easy hoop.
The Thunderbirds got a basket from 6’1” G Alan Brown (Hills East ’24), Copiague missed the free on an and1 but East came down and scored. HHE lead 15-9 with 2:22 and giving 6’4” SG Malachi Moore (Copiague ’23) all type of fits with face guarding and trapping. Luckily for the Eagles they got some offense elsewhere as 6” PG Ray Bradley (Copiague ’25) finished inside but Brown hit a pair of free throws giving East a 17-13 lead after 1.
Hills East got a layup, Moore hit a contested pull up, Copiague missed two free throws on back-to-back possessions. Zeh drilled a three, Moore scored on two defenders as Copiague now trailed 24-17 with 4:25 left in the quarter. Heyman hit a three, made two free throws, Eagles got a three, but Hills East broke free for an easy layup. The Thunderbirds scored again, Moore answered right before time ran out and Hills found themselves up 33-22.
Brown scored for East, Moore answered, Zeh buried a three and Hills made two free throws. East stretched the lead to 40-24 at the 5:17 mark. Zeh hit another corner three, the Eagles responded with a 6-0 run when Zeh stepped up again taking a huge charge against Moore. Bradley finished a put back, Hills called a timeout now only up 43-32.
Bradley went on a little 3-0 to end the quarter cutting Hills lead down to single digits. Heyman hit Brown for a layup, Bradley hit a free throw, Eagles scored, and Hills made a pair of free throws. Unfortunately for Copiague that was as close as they were going to get as Hills East went on a clutch 12-0 run.
The Thunderbirds finished off Copiague 66-51 and showed that despite their youth they have a ton of depth that can contribute. Brown led East with 14, Heyman had his 9 in the first half and played terrific defense plus had a bunch of assists. Zeh really popped for East finished 4 threes and proved he’s one of the top marksmen on the Island. Moore, who we are big fans of struggled against Hills defensive game plan but still finished with 13. The sophomore Bradley is a player to watch in the future. He led the Eagles with 15 points.
