South Side boys basketball rolls to Nassau Class AA championship

John Pericolosi and Ryan Schmitt are the two biggest offensive threats for South Side. But the Cyclones needed a few others to step forward and lend the two seniors a hand in sending the basketball through the net, especially with the task at hand.

Top-seeded South Side was at Farmingdale State on Saturday, squaring off with No. 2 Roslyn for the Nassau AA championship plaque.

As it turned out, Pericolosi, the 6-4 point guard, provided 19 points and Schmitt, the 6-6 forward/guard, added 16.

But it was 6-4 junior forward Trevor Walsh and 6-1 sophomore guard/forward Kieran Vetter stepping forward with big assists to the cause.

Walsh scored 23 points and Vetter had 14, and South Side had possession of that coveted plaque after an 82-67 victory.

“It means the world to me,” Walsh said.

It marked the Cyclones’ first county title in three years.

South Side defeats Roslyn to win the county title: pic.twitter.com/NOKrOzcZJ5

— Newsday Sports (@NewsdaySports) March 8, 2026

“We have so many players that can really play,” Pericolosi said. “We’re all just athletes. We’re tall and physical.”

And successful.

“We play so well together,” Walsh said.

South Side is 20-3 after winning its ninth straight game. The last time the program claimed a Long Island championship was also 2023. The Cyclones will go after another when they face Smithtown West at 5 p.m. Wednesday, again at Farmingdale State.

“They’re excellent,” South Side coach Jerry D’Angelo said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Roslyn was riding a 14-game winning streak. The Bulldogs received 22 points from Benjy Rubin, 14 from Ben Pnini, 12 from Davon White and 11 from Brody Konigsberg. But they ended up at 19-4.

“We put in a ton of work for this,” coach Greg Tull said, “That’s obviously why they’re going to be disappointed. I’m really proud of these guys. … Incredible group of kids.”

Those Roslyn kids led 18-10 late in the first quarter — White had seven points off the bench and Rubin scored six — before the Cyclones took over.

Walsh hit two foul shots for the final two points of the period to cut it to six. South Side then came out and just dominated the second quarter.

“We put ourselves in a tough hole that we needed to dig ourselves out of,” Tull said.

The Cyclones outscored the Bulldogs 20-2 to take a 32-20 advantage into the locker room.

“We weren’t finishing our shots,” Tull said. “We had really good looks.”

Walsh scored eight and Schmitt had four over those eight minutes.

“It’s not just the two of us,” Pericolosi said of himself and Schmitt. “We need all five. We’ve got a bunch of depth, Trevor starting for us and Vetter coming off the bench, (Connor) Erickson, too. They’re good players and they can get the job done under pressure."

No answers were forthcoming in the third for Roslyn.

It was 39-26, and then South Side scored the next 11.

After Vetter sank back-to-back threes, the lead sat at a huge 24 — 50-26.

Go back to those final two points of the first quarter and it added up to a 40-8 distance run.

“I think we’re pretty good defensively,” D’Angelo said. “We’re long. I think we adjust. I thought we did a nice job on the boards.”

Pericolosi, who returned for the postseason after missing nine games due to a broken hand, contributed nine points in the quarter. It was 59-38 heading to the fourth.

“This bunch is a very special bunch,” D’Angelo said. “They work really hard. They spent a lot of time in the offseason. We had a lot of injuries, played almost half our season without our best player. And kids had to step up.”