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A Few Clouds Rams break six-game slide
Win at Hewlett on late basket
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Cameron Mitchell hit the winning basket for the Rams last Friday at Hewlett.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
Staring down the barrel of a fourth straight Conference ABC-I loss out of the gate and a seventh consecutive defeat overall, West Hempstead made the most of its final possession at Hewlett last Friday night to pull out a 56-55 victory in a game that featured 13 lead changes.
Point guard Cameron Mitchell drove the length of the court and hit a driving layup with 4.3 seconds left to win it for the Rams, who trailed by as many as five points in the first half and led by as many as six in the second half.
“I wanted to get the ball up the floor as fast as possible,” said Mitchell, who had eight points and four assists. “I think they thought I was going to dish to Jamel [Flash] or Danny [Minto]. I was a little surprised the lane was wide open, so I went to the basket.”
Minto scored a game-high 20 points and had nine rebounds and Flash added 13 points and 11 rebounds for West Hempstead, which won for the first time since Dec. 12 and improved to 1-3 in conference play and 3-7 overall. Michael Eckerle had 17 points and Roey Shmuel chipped in 14 for the Bulldogs (1-3, 6-4), who took a 55-54 lead with a Max Noble free throw with 10.2 seconds remaining.
“It’s the first conference game we matched our opponent in terms of physicality and intensity,” West Hempstead coach Ed Cosgrove said. “We were rewarded for our effort. It was by far our best defensive game of the season.”
It was the most frustrating game of 2009-10 for Hewlett and coach Bill Dubin. The Bulldogs missed three free throws in the fourth quarter and were out of position on Mitchell’s winning bucket. “We missed some late foul shots and made one bad defensive mistake at the end,” Dubin said. “The plan wasn’t to pressure the inbounds pass. We weren’t supposed to have four guys on their side of the court.”
West Hempstead, which trailed 25-21 at halftime, started to rally midway through the third quarter. Greg Cecere’s three-pointer tied it at 32 and sparked a 12-4 spurt. Brandon Zapelli beat the buzzer with a three-pointer, and the Rams had their biggest lead at 42-36 after Flash banked in a shot to open the fourth.
Dylan Pastor brought the Bulldogs back with five straight points and Eckerle showed range by answering a score by Minto with a 12-foot jumper and a three-pointer to give Hewlett a 47-46 lead. Cecere hit another trey and Minto a put-back to put the Rams back in front by four, but C.J. Brady had two field goals in a 22-second span to tie it at 51 and set the tone for a wild finish.
“We were more confident tonight,” Cosgrove said. “It’s nice to get in the win column, and hopefully we can bottle up this performance.”
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