Lawrence Gets Back at Hewlett With 76-54 Win

The Lawrence boys basketball team was looking for revenge on Friday night on their home court after losing a heartbreaking double overtime game on Dec. 17 to their Five Towns rival Hewlett.

Lawrence’s high-powering offensive attack got off to a quick start, outscoring Hewlett 42-26 in the first half. The Golden Tornadoes did not relinquish the lead this time on their way to a 76-54 Conference A-II win.

“The way we lost the first time around to this team in double overtime by giving up a double-digit lead, it feels good to get this victory, especially over Hewlett,” said Lawrence head coach Pete Linderman.

Hewlett led early in the game when Weldin Irvine scored three of his team-high 27 points to give the Bulldogs a 9-8 lead. But the Bulldogs were never ahead the remainder of the game as the Golden Tornadoes ended the first quarter on a 14-2 scoring run.

Any hopes of a Hewlett comeback were dashed in the third quarter when Lawrence’s full-court pressure forced the Bulldogs into three straight turnovers. This led to six fast points and stretched the Golden Tornadoes lead to 24.

Lawrence (6-2 conference, 9-3 overall) was led by guard Eddie Robinson, who recorded a triple double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Clifton Lyerly contributed 18 points and seven rebounds and Ibraheem Shamseldin had 13 points and five rebounds.

“They are a very athletic team who are fast and run a very good fast break,” said Hewlett (3-4, 5-5) head coach Pete Dubin. “Our game plan was to make them play half-court and when we made them play this way, we had a good success rate. When we let them run up and down the court, we had difficulty. We allowed them to play their game and did not make them play ours.”

Despite being down by as much as 29 points, the Bulldogs did not quit. Irving and Josh Rivlin helped the Bulldogs get within 15 points of the lead by scoring all 11 points in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too much for Hewlett to overcome.

“Hewlett kids never give up,” Dubin said. “Last time we played these guys, we were down 24-6, and we ended up beating them in double overtime. Our kids never give up whether we are too far up or too far down.”

The Bulldogs played the Friday game without starting center Avery Feldman, who was suffering from a virus. Feldman was a key part of Hewlett’s first early-season victory against Lawrence by recording a double-double with 27 points and 20 rebounds.

“Avery Feldman was unstoppable in the paint last game and it is tough to replace a guy like that,” Dubin said.

Lawrence has won seven of their past eight games since losing to Hewlett on Dec. 17, but Linderman said his team needs to maintain their consistency throughout the course of a game if they want to be successful in the playoffs.

“Our worst enemy is ourselves because we tend to get comfortable on our leads and then make careless mistakes,” Linderman said. “We are on a nice little run now and are getting better every day. We are looking forward to the upcoming schedule heading into our playoff run.” 

Lawrence will travel to face Lynbook on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for noon, while Hewlett welcomes Sewanhaka into their gymnasium on Friday at 7:15 p.m.