The Blue Devils are on a roll under a new head coach. Clayton Ward scored 16 points and Max Rentsch added 14 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, four steals and a block to pace the Huntington boys’ basketball team to a 60-53 non-league victory at Walt Whitman last Friday night before a crowd of 500 fans.
Whitman led 16-15 after eight minutes and 32-25 at halftime. Huntington struggled to keep pace, falling behind by 11 points. But the Blue Devils rallied, making several key shots and forcing a string of turnovers.
Huntington head coach Ken Parham sketches the play during a timeout. (Darin Reed photo.)
Huntington went on a 17-9 third quarter run to take a one point lead heading into the final frame. First year Blue Devil head coach Ken Parham made repeated adjustments and used several strategic timeouts to sketch out plays for his team.
With Ward and Rentsch hard to stop and Dylan Coleman, Hunter Borenstein and Kevin Drake coming up with clutch baskets and plays, Huntington outscored the Wildcats over the final eight minutes, 18-12.
While Parham is in his first year with the Blue Devils, he has 30 years of coaching experience under his belt, including extremely successful stints at Bay Shore, St. Anthony’s and New York Institute of Technology, where he was building an NCAA Division II power before the college put its entire athletic program on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Huntington players have coalesced around and bought into Parham’s basketball philosophy. The Blue Devils’ confidence in their coach was evident on Friday night when the team fell behind by double digits. There was no panic and no quit in any of the Blue and White, who individually and collectively kept their heads up and chipped away at the deficit, one basket at a time.
Ward added five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals to go with his game high 16 points. Coleman had eight points, six assists and three steals. Borenstein dropped nine points, including a pair of three-pointers and added three rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block. Drake also had nine points, along with two rebounds and a steal. Henry Vohs had four points and four rebounds.
“I’m extremely happy with the way the team responded to a very competitive game,” Parham said. “We were down early, but we continued to fight and never gave up. Their resiliency paid off as we finally broke through to win the game.”
Huntington’s grit and determination was on display as the Blue Devils faced down Whitman’s relentless offensive attack in the final minutes. “The game went great,” Ward said. “We came together after halftime and fought hard to build a lead and finish the game.”
Huntington hosts Smithtown West on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. in the league opener. The Blue Devils travel to North Babylon on Friday for another league contest. Tipoff is set for 5:15 p.m.
