Sizzling start for Uniondale

Uniondale’s girls’ basketball team is off to a fantastic start to its season. The Knights are currently sitting at 9-2 overall, including 3-2 in Conference AAA games.

Senior Darrian Jackson has been a prolific scorer as she currently sits at second in all of Nassau County, averaging 21.6 points per game. Some of her best performances include 29 at Susan Wagner, 28 against East Meadow, 25 against Elmont and 25 at Oceanside. In the win over Port Washington she scored 25 of Uniondale’s 39 points.

Sophomores Zahara Saintyl and Eniola Adisa complete the three-headed monster. Saintyl is a double-double machine who averages 10.2 points and well over 10 rebounds per game. Adisa excels at not only scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game but distributing the ball as well.

“It’s a huge luxury to have three girls that can score pretty much whenever they want,” head coach Nolan Dunkley said. “If one of the three are having trouble, the other two will do more than enough to pick up the slack.”

While the Knights have been able to score consistenly to win games, their defense has been a key to their success all year long.

“Our pressure defense is great,” Dunkley said. “We’re very athletic and the amount of pressure we can apply really does rattle other teams.”

Kayla Reid and Jada Murchison round out the starting lineup. The duo is the defensive backbone of the team, as they consistently guard the opponent’s best offensive players.

“[Reid and Murchison] will research the other teams we’re playing and say ‘okay coach this is who I’m guarding,’” Dunkley said. “They really help us out a lot on the defensive side of the ball.”

Nilah James is a very important piece off of the bench as she can put the ball in the basket as well. She had her best game of the season against Holy Trinity when she scored 13 points with three made three-pointers.

Two players that come off of the bench and provide valuable leadership are seniors Sidalia Brissett and Guerlande Salomon. Their experience tends to right the ship if something ever goes the wrong way.

“The seniors have been around the program for a while and they really bought into what we’re trying to build here,” Dunkley said. “[Brissett and Salomon] knew they weren’t initially going to start but that wasn’t a problem for them, they just want to help the team in any way they can.”

Uniondale, which defeated Farmingdale 54-37 Monday evening behind 21 points from Saintyl and 20 from Jackson, has 10 games remaining on its schedule and there is much optimism for the rest of the season.

“We’re still trying to get over the hump beating these good teams in our conference,” Dunkley said. “Humbling losses will happen because we do still have some things to work on. We like to get back in the lab and reflect on every game because when you’re winning games you can get blinded by all of the good things.”