Mineola Boys Basketball Drops 2012-13 Season Opener

Mineola was back on the hardwood Wednesday night, back in their black alternate jerseys for their 2012-13 season opener at home Wednesday night at Mineola High School.

And at the end of the game they were back in the score against Bethpage too, 11 points behind to be exact: 66-55.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 9-4 first quarter lead over the Mustangs and never looked back.

"We didn't come ready to play in our first game of the season,” Mineola head coach Jim Heggmann said. “It's as simple as that. Our defensive intensity was bad and our shot selection left a lot to be desired."

Bethpage led by double digits for most of the game with junior point guard Greg Gerber having his way with the Mineola defense, scoring a game-high 31 points and collecting 12 rebounds.

The lone bright spot for Mineola was the shooting performance from senior guard Malcolm Brown who helped the Mustangs cut the  lead to seven late in the fourth quarter, a rally that came too late.

“We got some good production from a couple of our starters but overall we didn't play a smart game,” said Heggmann. “I thought Mike (Waszczuk) was forcing it a little from the outside when he should have been driving to the rack more.”

The Mustangs play one more non-league game at home against Lynbrook next Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. before starting conference play.