Playoff heartbreak for West Hempstead

West Hempstead’s season came to end with a gut-wrenching 67-58 road loss to No. 6 Lawrence in the opening round of the Nassau Class A boys’ basketball playoffs.

Senior Samson Bialostok scored six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Golden Tornadoes rallied from a nine-point deficit to knock off the No. 11 Rams. Sophomore guard Eddie Robinson scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Lawrence. West Hempstead, which finished 9-9, was led by Mike Mangino’s 14 points.

West Hempstead head coach Ed Cosgrove was proud of the effort his team gave. “It’s all about execution,” Cosgrove said. “We came out and gave it everything we had. You have to give them a lot of credit. They created turnovers. Their pressure defense creates their offense. That was the difference in the fourth quarter.” 

From the opening tap it was obvious that this one would be a barnburner. Robinson scored five points in the first quarter as the Golden Tornadoes took a 15-13 lead. 

The lead went back and forth, but Lawrence, which improved to 15-3, appeared to be in serious trouble when Robinson picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter. West Hempstead’s Jan Carlos Brito and Lawrence’s Ahmad Shamseldin each scored six points in the quarter. Lawrence held a 33-31 lead at the break.

The third quarter was all West Hempstead. With Mangino dominating in the paint and senior Thomas Valerio heating up from the perimeter, the Rams ran out to a commanding 50-41 lead with 50 seconds left in the quarter. The Golden Tornadoes got back-to-back baskets from Bialostok and Ibraheem Shamseldin (11 points, 7 assists) to close the gap to 50-45 as the quarter came to an end.

Mangino’s play impressed Cosgrove. “This is probably the best game he played all season,” Cosgrove said. “He had 14 points and 14 rebounds. He dominated the inside, got out on the break, and he made his free throws. We couldn’t have asked for more from him.”