East Rockaway tops West Hempstead

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A tight contest on Jan. 3 between West Hempstead and East Rockaway swung in favor of the Rocks as they pulled away in the second half, winning the Nassau Conference B girls’ basketball matchup by a final of 37-26.
A big reason for East Rockaway’s ability to close the game out late was the play of freshman Maya Motherway. She scored 11 of the team’s 13 points in the fourth quarter and played strong defense against West Hempstead’s All-County player Chance Mingo, holding her to just one point. Motherway continues to exhibit a strong work ethic in her second varsity season.
“Maya is a very hard working player,” Rocks head coach Cheri Poland said. “She puts a lot of extra time in. She’ll come before practice and stay after to get shots up.”
It was a dominant showing by Poland’s daughter, junior Emma Poland, who put together a triple-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocks. Her and Motherway have been leading the way so far this season with their play on both ends of the court.
“They work well together and push each other to be better,” coach Poland said. “They’re more experienced than some of the other players, so they really have been able to put the team on their back.”

After leading by one at halftime, West Hempstead was outscored 22-10 in the second half after scoring 10 in the second quarter alone. The Rams got away from their strategy, but were not given many opportunities to score either.
“They mixed up their defenses and rebounded really well,” West Hempstead head coach Chris Van Kovics said. “We struggled offensively and didn’t get to the foul line much.”
The Rams were led by senior Gianna Cardillo’s seven points, but have been led by Mingo throughout the season. Mingo will look to be a big piece for West Hempstead down the stretch after being held in check by East Rockaway.
“She has to do a little bit of everything for us,” Van Kovics said. “We tried to give her as many looks as possible, but we struggled to do that.”
Only two other players scored for East Rockaway (Sophia Pappas and Sofia Tizio) in the contest. Along with Pappas and Tizio being key pieces going forward, the Rocks will also need others to be scoring options down the stretch, the coach said.
“We need more scoring from everybody,” Poland said. “I would like to be able to go deeper into the bench.”
Just one member on East Rockaway’s roster is a senior (Natalia Wilkerson), making this season a prime opportunity for the team to grow and build to be a true contender in Class B next winter.
“We’re working this year to build everything for next year,” Poland said. “I think next year we’re going to be in a really good situation.”
The Rocks have now won two straight after dropping nine of their first 10, while West Hempstead falls below .500 with a 2-3 overall record. The teams meet again at East Rockaway on Feb. 2.