It was one of the strangest games in a long time and one of the lowest scoring in 60 years for the Huntington boys’ basketball team, which edged North Babylon on Friday night, 35-32 at Walt Whitman. It gave the Blue Devils back to back wins and was the team’s eighth victory of the winter.
Huntington scored only four points in the first quarter and only 12 in the entire first half. North Babylon also struggled to score. The Bulldogs led after eight minutes, 11-4 and at halftime, 18-12. The Blue Devils crawled closer in the third quarter before going on an 11-4 fourth quarter run to seal the win.
Senior Dylan Coleman sunk a crucial three-point basket and the clock ticked down and short time later hit both free throws in a one-and-one situation. The teenager ended with a team high 11 points along with four rebounds and two assists. Coleman called the final result a “huge win” and he was right.
It was a really weird game. Huntington shot only 10-for-32 from the field and 3-for-15 from three point range. The Blue Devils were 6-for-16 from the free throw line.
Max Rentsch had 10 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two assists. Clayton Ward and Hunter Borenstein both scored seven points and pulled down seven rebounds. Aidan McNulty came off the bench to grab six rebounds and add two assists and two steals. Kevin Drake had three rebounds.
It was Huntington’s eighth win of the season, the most the Blue Devils have had in many years. It came one night after Huntington topped West Islip, 67-46. The Blue Devils have also defeated Newfield (58-41), Walt Whitman (60-53), Smithtown East (67-49), West Islip (62-36), Longwood (53-44) and Centereach (57-35).
The Blue Devils are playing their home games at Walt Whitman because a flood in the Huntington High School gym area necessitated the replacement of the gym floor.
Huntington’s final three regular season games will be played on February 4 at Centereach and February 5 against Bellport at Walt Whitman and February 9 against Copiague at Walt Whitman.
