Rams in hunt for conference title

West Hempstead had a plan entering the 2014-15 campaign, as the team had to replace four starters coming off a regular-season conference championship. But the offense has jelled and the defense has come together faster than expected, and the Rams (8-4 overall) are tied atop the Conference A-V boys’ basketball standings with a 6-1 mark entering the second half of the season following a 57-32 win over Clarke last Friday.

“We’ve put ourselves in a spot where the games are important and playoff seeds are at stake,” coach Ed Cosgrove said. “Now, one win could put you in, put you out or move you five spots [in the seedings].

“It makes every game we play now the most important,” he added.

Though senior Anthony Beaubrun remains the engine for West Hempstead’s offense, it’s the contributions of others who have helped push it to three straight wins. Beaubrun scored nine points with seven rebounds and seven assists against Clarke’s Rams, with senior Darius Francis scoring game-high 14 and senior Bobby Smith chipping in with 12 points and 10 rebounds. “As he goes, we go,” Cosgrove said of Beaubrun. “But he’s helping open [scoring opportunities] up for other guys.”

In a 46-39 victory over Friends Academy on Jan. 13, Beaubrun scored eight of his game-high 17 points—and totaled half of the Rams 16—in the fourth quarter. Francis scored 16, and West Hempstead scored 11 of its 16 points over the final eight minutes from the free-throw line to pull away. “Some of those free throws were at the end of the game but you’ve still got to make them,” Cosgrove said of his team converting at the charity stripe down the stretch. “We need that type of effort every night. If we play like we did with contributions off the bench and making our free throws [we’ll be tough].”

Smith, meanwhile, pulled down 16 rebounds in that win on the heels of a 15-rebound effort in a 46-29 win over Mineola on Jan. 8. “He’s a beast on the boards and he gets offensive putbacks,” Cosgrove said of Smith who is averaging more than a dozen boards per game. “When the ball comes down, Bobby’s there. He knows how to position himself well.”

Beaubrun, who can play all five positions on the floor but acts mostly as the Rams small forward, caught fire in the fourth quarter against Mineola, scoring 11 of his 12 points, while also pulling down 12 rebounds and netting four steals. Francis relied mostly on his jump shot early in the season but has become more aggressive recently, and in taking the ball to the hoop has increased his production. The point guard tandem of senior starter Sean Mashburn and junior Noah Beaubrun has also been productive, while 6-foot-6 junior Greg Schultze has come off the bench to provide size in the post for a Rams’ team that has allowed just 33.3 points per game during its three-game winning streak.

“The [defensive] pressure has led to easier baskets and higher percentage shots,” Cosgrove said of using a sizeable player. “When you go deeper on the bench, you feel more confident in your pressure defense.”