East Meadow relishes big start

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As far as East Meadow sees it, Allison Twible has merely returned from a leave of absence – rejoining a Jets girls’ basketball team that has solidified since the sophomore standout last held the keys as an All-Conference eighth-grade point guard.

Momentarily shaken last season by Twible’s transfer to Holy Trinity, East Meadow soon saw new leaders rise from its redrawn lineup, with former shooting guard Lindsay Solenski earning first-time All-County honors as a senior taking over for Twible, and then-sophomore Charlotte Viola named an All-Conference wing as the Jets made the Nassau Class AA playoffs for a school-record eighth straight season, going 7-5 in Conference AA2, 10-7 overall.

While the Jets, who returned four starters this season, grew tighter in Twible’s absence, the fourth-year-starting sophomore also grew over the course of her sojourn – three inches, to be exact. Averaging a team-leading 14 points as AA2’s sixth-ranked scorer, the now 5-foot-9 Twible has meshed seamlessly with her old mates, helping to spur East Meadow’s best start under 10th-year head coach Pete Olenik.

“It’s really great team chemistry that has carried us to such a positive start,” said Olenik, whose club sits a half-game out of second place at 5-2 in AA2, 10-2 overall. “It goes to show the overall confidence in the team concept, how they welcomed Allie back with open arms, allowing her to have a smooth transition.”

“They’re selfless players,” Olenik added. “It doesn’t matter who’s the top scorer or top rebounder. They all help and root for each other. A lot of familiarity and unselfishness.”

Helping Twible achieve a career-best 4.5 assist average, Viola and fellow junior guard Brooke Vislocky rank seventh and eighth in AA2 with 11.5 and 11.1 points per game respectively. Viola, the Jets’ leader last season with 28 3-pointers, is on pace to shatter her career mark with 23 treys to rank third in the conference.

“Charlotte and Brooke both have confidence to take the open shot,” Olenik said. “Allie as well, even though she’s more of a playmaker, she’s also a natural shooter. The three of them are a pretty good triple threat.”

Fourth in scoring on the Jets (6.4 points per game), team leading rebounder Emily Pota (10 per game) set a season-high with 15 points in East Meadow’s nonconference win against visiting Locust Valley Dec. 1., while fellow senior forward Emily Forrler scored a season-best 11 points in the Jets’ 62-39 stomping of nonleague foe Mepham in the opener.

In its lone true test besides a home league loss to unbeaten defending Long Island champ and state finalist Baldwin Jan. 14, East Meadow rallied from a slow first half at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK, outscoring the AA2 archrival 29-23 after intermission, but running out of quarters as the second-place Hawks coasted to win 57-40.

“Baldwin’s blowing up the conference,” Olenik said. “But we really think we can compete with Plainview. The last game we woke up in the second half and cut their big lead to seven. It’ll probably be us and them fighting for second place.”