Valley Stream North at full strength

The road back to the Final Four in the Class A playoffs has been a little bumpy for the Valley Stream North boys’ basketball team so far because of illness and injuries. The team has kept its head above water the best it could during that time and – with a return to full health –  the close losses it endured could soon flip its way.
The Spartans split the first 12 games of the season and are 2-3 in Conference A4 play at press time after a 69-58 home victory over Plainedge last Saturday. It was North’s fourth win in six games following a four-game losing streak and proved to be the perfect tonic following a tough two-point loss at Floral Park three days earlier.
That day, the Spartans didn’t allow the Knights to score in the final 2:24 of regulation but could only muster three points during that span for their fourth loss by five points or fewer. 
“We had a very good game against Floral Park,” said head coach Michael McVeigh. “Back and forth, two good teams playing hard and we ended up not winning the game, but I feel like if we can play as hard as we did and we can stay healthy and do the right thing, I think we’ll be in more competitive games and have a chance to win and hopefully make the playoffs.”
That game also marked one of the few times they fielded a full lineup.

“We spent most of December where we were not healthy,” McVeigh said. “We had sickness going through the team [and] injuries. Aside from our game against Lynbrook [on Dec. 20] and [against Floral Park], we haven’t had a full team.”
Jalen Harrison, who was one of the wounded last month, and Jayden Rodriguez each had 18 points against Plainedge and Danny Kosior added a season-high 16 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Dominic Obukwelu was also a factor with eight points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Harrison is averaging just under 18 points a game and has had four games of 20-plus points while leading his team in scoring four times this season.
“He can just make plays,” McVeigh said. “Other people just can’t do some of the things that Jaylen can do with the ball.”
Obukwelu is not far behind Harrison at 16.5 points a game after averaging around 10 as an All-County sophomore player.  He had a 25-point, 11-rebound performance against West Hempstead in the season opener and had two 21-point games since.
“He’s at a whole new level this year,” McVeigh said.
Rodriguez is enjoying a strong senior season with a 13-point scoring average with six double-digit point efforts and Kosior, a junior, had been one of the “key factors” on defense before his offensive explosion against Plainedge, according to McVeigh. 
Senior playmaker Aaron Rodriguez has had games of 15 and 11 points this season and the team is also getting production from sophomores Christian St. Amand and Zeke Morris.