Leonidas Vlogianitis, Garden City defense stifle Hewlett in victory
Leonidas Vlogianitis (24 points) led Garden City to Nassau Class A semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The most prolific boys basketball scorer on Long Island among the public school crowd stood in the way of Garden City and a trip to the Nassau Class A semifinals.
Third-seeded Garden City needed to contain Ryan Weiss in Wednesday’s home quarterfinal. The 6-3 junior guard had carried No. 11 Hewlett past No. 6 Roslyn last Friday in the second round, erupting for 46 in a one-point, double-overtime win.
"Weiss is like my best friend," said Leonidas Vlogianitis, Garden City’s standout junior guard. "We prepared for him the whole week. We have a really good zone. We focused on him … He’s a great scorer. He’s a great kid."
That kid came in averaging 28.2 points. Playing their aggressive 2-3 zone, Garden City held Weiss to 12 and contained the rest of the Bulldogs in a dominant 70-32 win.
"He’s a great shooter," Garden City coach Jim Hegmann said. "I watched a lot of film on him. He’s a tough player. He’s really good. He can turn it on and shoot from anywhere on the floor. … They’ve got a good team. They’ve got a couple of other shooters who can stick it, too."
Vlogianitis stuck 11 shots, including a couple of threes, in a 24-point game. Jackson Perisa added 13 points. And so this close-knit, 16-3 team is moving on to face the 10th seed, 15-6 Valley Stream North, Tuesday at Hofstra.
"Our team, we’re great friends," Vlogianitis said. "Great bond. We all love each other. We play hard together. All as one."
They took charge right away, jumping in front 22-4 after one quarter. Vlogianitis scored seven, Tarell Joseph nailed two threes and Weiss was scoreless.
"They were prepared to play me," Weiss said. "I’ve just got to give credit to them for playing good defense."
By halftime, it was 39-10. Then Vlogianitis hit a layup, a three and a scoop to open the third.
"He’s getting better understanding the game," Hegmann said. "He’s a fierce competitor … He’s really growing up a lot from the beginning of the year."
The lead grew to 41 in the fourth. Hewlett bowed out at 14-8.
"I thought we had a very good season," coach Bill Dubin said. "People didn’t have much expectations for us. They thought we were a one-man team. We had some guys step up and play some good basketball."
