Commack boys basketball makes loud statement against Brentwood

Commack swept its first two games, then fell by five against Bay Shore Monday. That didn’t go down well with the Cougars.

“That loss to Bay Shore really hurt us,” senior Chris McHugh said. “… We were 2-0. We were riding high, and then the first league game, we just lost at home. We took that personal. We just wanted to come out here and make a statement.”

McHugh was talking Thursday night after this basketball team rebounded to make a big one, at least for this early stage.

Brentwood, the Class AA program on a run of 10 straight final fours, was the visitor. Commack built a 16-point lead in the second quarter and hung on for a 53-46, Suffolk I win.

“I mean, Brentwood is obviously one of, if not the best team in our league this year, and in past years especially,” said senior guard Mike Gitz, who paced the Cougars with 13 points. “Beating them is definitely a great feeling.”

Jerimiah Webb gave Brentwood (2-2, 1-1) some momentum early in the fourth, scoring the first six points. That 16-point cushion for Commack (3-1, 1-1) was down to 38-33 with five minutes left.

“Jerimiah’s a tough kid,” Brentwood coach Anthony Jimenez said of the sophomore guard, who scored 11 of his 16 in the fourth. “He’s going to compete.”

So is McHugh.

The 6-3 center then scored five of his nine points as a result of offensive rebounds, including two free throws to make it 47-35 with 1:38 remaining.

“That’s my role on this team,” said McHugh, a VCU baseball commit as a shortstop. “I know my role. I get in the block. I just box people out. I get boards.”

Brentwood kept coming. After Webb hit a three and followed with a steal and a layup, it was down to 49-43 with 31 seconds to go. But Nick Waga canned four large foul shots in the final 24 seconds.

“We had a plan going in and the kids did a good job executing it,” Commack coach Peter Smith said. “We played much better defense, and that really kept them out of sync for most of the game.”

The match-up man-to-man with much switching helped the Cougars go up 11-0 and then 26-10 late in the first half.

“Commack came out with far more intensity than we did,” Jimenez said. “That effects the outcome of the game.”