John Jay boys baseltball stands tall for win over Hen Hud

Marc Fein splits a pair of defenders. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

Nate Summer scores two of his team-high 19 points.

Owen Gitelson scores in the lane.

By JIM MACLEAN 

The room was packed for “jam the gym” night as the John Jay boys varsity basketball team hosted league rival Hen Hud on Friday night, Jan. 9, and the Wolves put on a show for the home crowd.

It was a thriller as John Jay rallied from behind in the third quarter and turned it on in the final quarter to secure a 70-62 victory over the Sailors.

“Our hope is always that ‘jam the gym’ night is a lot of fun and people will keep coming back if we play well,” John Jay coach Tyler Sayre said of the big crowd. “Hopefully, that’s what we’ll get with the crowd, we need it with a couple of tough games next week. This was a nice win, two in a row for us and we have to build some momentum and keep improving.”

It turned into a classic battle of two different styles. John Jay had the size advantage inside and used it, while Hen Hud had the sharp shooting guards on the outside and the Sailors kept hitting big 3-pointers to stay in the game.

In the end, it was John Jay’s balance that won out as the Wolves had nine different players score and contribute, led by Nate Summer as he scored a team-high 19 points, including eight in the final quarter for the Wolves.

Hen Hud countered with four different players in double figures, led by Hunter Kennedy-Brown with a game-high 20 points, and the Sailors connected on 10 3-pointers overall.

“We knew we had a size mismatch and we had to take advantage of it, and we knew they’d try to play small,” Sayre said. “We’ve got size, not just big bodies; they’re pretty good players who can rebound, score and play defense. Nate is only a freshman and he’s here because he can put the ball in the basket. For about 28 minutes we played really well, we gave up a couple of runs, but outside of those runs I feel we kind of wore them down.”

Alex Palacio also finished in double-figures for the Wolves with 10 points. He was one of four big men inside working hard for John Jay, as Timmy Pastore finished with 9 points, while Owen Gitelson and Marc Fein each scored 8 points for the Wolves.

John Jay had built a 13-point lead in the second quarter, but Hen Hud went on a 9-0 run to cut it down to a 28-24 lead at halftime.

The big men took charge to start the second half with six-straight points for the Wolves to get the lead back up to 10 points, but the Sailors got hot from outside nailing four 3-pointers to eventually take the lead at 44-41 late in the third. Pastore answered with a 3-pointer for the Wolves, and Summer scored to close out the third quarter with a 47-46 John Jay lead.

In the fourth quarter, John Jay came out strong with Fein scoring a hoop and Summer then connecting on a 3-pointer and another basket to make it an 8-point lead. The Sailors cut it down to 4 points, but Braydon Gates hit a 3-pointer and another hoop, and Will Green and Summer each hit a pair of free throws to close it out for the Wolves. Gates and Green each finished with 5 points overall, and Dion Prelvukaj scored4 points and Patrick Ryan added 2 points as nine different Wolves contributed in the score column.

It was the big 23-point effort in the fourth quarter that made the difference as John Jay sent the crowd home happy.

The Wolves hope to carry the momentum forward with games against Yorktown and Byram Hills coming up on the schedule.

“We’re just getting better, this team compared to our first game is like night and day,” added Sayre. “We have to keep it up, working hard, just try to keep getting better through February.”