South Side boys basketball's John Pericolosi leads Cyclones to final in second game back from injury
John Pericolosi of South Side backs into Antonio Giannopoulos of Manhasset under the basket during a Nassau Class AA semifinal playoff game at on Monday. Credit: David Meisenholder
South Side senior John Pericolosi broke his dominant left hand against Manhasset in January and didn’t return until Feb. 26. On Monday, he faced that same Manhasset boys basketball team at Farmingdale State.
Throughout the game, that hand was swiping steals with the vigor of a kid ripping away gift wrapping on Christmas morning. And afterward, that hand was high-fiving a massive swarm of South Side fans who engulfed the team on the way to its locker room, having just watched Pericolosi and the Cyclones reach a county final.
“It feels great, especially coming back for the playoffs [because] I didn’t know if I’d make it back in time,” Pericolosi said. “I got cleared, and I’m just happy to be able to contribute to the team again.”
Pericolosi had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals and senior Ryan Schmitt dominated the paint with 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in top-seeded South Side’s 55-45 win over No. 5 Manhasset in the Nassau Class AA semifinals.
South Side (19-3) will face No. 2 Roslyn (19-3) in the championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Farmingdale State. Roslyn defeated No. 3 Garden City, 72-66, on Monday night.
The teams were tied at 29 with 3:15 left in the third quarter. South Side’s “constant pressure,” in the words of Pericolosi, forced contested shots and numerous Manhasset turnovers, which enabled the Cyclones to go on an 18-3 run and take a 47-32 lead with 5:09 remaining.
Sophomore Kieran Vetter provided a five-point swing himself as he recorded a steal, finished a three-point play and scored a layup on the following possession.
Vetter guarded Manhasset senior Pete Mastando — who has averaged more than 27 points since February and had 22 points and seven rebounds on Monday — in the second half and helped limit Manhasset (19-4) to six third-quarter points.
“He really has taken the initiative,” South Side coach Jerry D’Angelo said. “We relied on him big when John was injured to be our best defender.”
Schmitt will captain this Cyclones team at least one more time with a “different feeling” than he had as a junior a year ago.
“We have something more to play for every game,” he said. “This is our whole season on the line right here; we don’t get a ‘next year.’ We’re trying to give it everything we got each game, really come out with a lot of intensity and leave it all on the floor. No excuses.”
Manhasset coach George Bruns said of his team: “I was very pleased with their development. We lost four games this year, and we lost to what I think is the best team. We had a couple of lapses, and they got two real strong guys.”
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
