The Boys Garden City Varsity Basketball games have been great to watch!
Last Friday night, the Trojans had a great game versus a tough South Side team. There were so many fans at the game that the bleachers behind the team benches needed to be opened to accommodate the crowd. The GC Crazies were at the game and cheering on their school mates.
South Side came out strong and started the game with a 6-0 run. With leadership of their veteran senior players, the Trojans gathered themselves with solid defense and teamwork. The end of the first quarter saw the Trojans up 12-10. With a strong inside game and good outside shooting the Trojans led 27-15 at the half. Rob Wotczak had an amazing game with a career high 11 points in the first half. The Garden City defense has been excellent allowing only 5 points in the 2nd quarter and an amazingly low total of 21 points in its last 4 quarters. Spencer Bais and Mark DeSantis broke the press and pushed the ball up the court. Garden City traded baskets during the second half in an exciting back and forth game. Coach Steimer had the team up by 10 points most of the second half. The boys met the challenge of handling a strong full court press and double team pressure in the half court game. Dan Bonchonsky was big on the boards with 10 rebounds and 10 points. Eddie Blatz led the scoring with 12 points. Kyle Skramko had 11 points in the win.
On Tuesday night the team travelled to Wantagh. The Trojans had a slow start allowing the Warriors a strong 10-0 start. Wantagh led 14-6 at the end of the first quarter. The impressive Garden City defense kicked in with Ed Blatz, Dan Bonchonsky, and Andrew Granville fighting for position and rebounds against the 6'8" Wantagh center. As they have done against most teams; Kyle Skramko, Rob Wotczak, and Mark DeSantis combined to frustrate Wantagh's 20+ per game scorer Eric Regenbogen holding him to 3 field goals in the game. Where the big guys for Garden City have had some "double doubles" (normally more than 10 points and 10 rebounds), the combination of Bais and Skramko have provided equally impressive unpublished stats in steals and assists.
Spencer Bais continued his excellent ball control and led the breaking of the press with Mark DeSantis. Spencer Bais with dribble penetration was called for two charges and had to sit out the 2nd quarter. Bais was still able to contribute an all around game with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. In another back & forth game, Wantagh led at the half 21-17 and 32-25 at the end of the third quarter. The Trojans mounted a strong fourth quarter comeback to erase a 7 point deficit. Bais hit a critical 3 pointer and then Blatz hit a free throw to tie the game with 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Trojans played a great game remaining composed and focused under pressure. Some of the Wantagh fans were way out of line with at least three Wantagh students being ejected from the gym for unsportsman like behavior. The atmosphere was tense with Garden City players being taunted by name and number from warmups through the end of the game.
In the first OT of the season, Ed Blatz worked hard for the jump ball against the 6'8" Wantagh center Devine. There was no possession off the tip. Blatz gained a second jump ball by diving to the floor and grabbing the loose ball off the tap. At the second jump ball, Blatz tipped the ball to Kyle Skramko who gave Garden City the first possession in OT.
Bais directed the offense creating opportunity for the team. The Trojans missed their first three shots. With hard work and determination, GC maintained control for the first 90 seconds of OT with offensive rebounds off the misses. GC scored first with a sweet Dan Bonchonsky 16 foot jumper. Wantagh had excellent free throw shooting in the game going 10-11 from the line.
Down by two points, Garden City had a chance to tie off an inbounds play with 3.8 seconds remaining. But it wasn't meant to be as Wantagh prevailed 42-40.
Kyle Skramko continued his nine game 3 point streak and tied a Garden City record by hitting 5 3's in the game. Skramko led the scoring with 18 points and had 4 steals.
Next up is a home game versus Jericho Friday Jan 18th 6:45pm.
Come on down and cheer on the Trojans
