Impressive Finish for West Hempstead

When a high school basketball team loses each of its first 12 games, the easy thing would be to mail in the rest of the season. But there was no quit in West Hempstead’s girls.

After picking up their first win, a convincing 66-40 trouncing of Clarke, the Rams won two of their next three. With the entire roster returning in 2010-11, coach Chris Van Kovics believes the late-season run will carry over into next season. “We have everyone back next season,” Van Kovics said. “Getting on a nice run at the end of the season bodes real well for the future. Hopefully, things will carry over.”

After the victory over Clarke, West Hempstead knocked off Friends Academy and Bethpage, a pair of teams that beat the Rams the first time the teams met in Conference ABC-V play, and nearly upset Glen Cove, a team with nine conference victories.

In the 43-28 win over Friends, the Rams were led by junior forward Sarah Njoku’s 15 points and 15 rebounds. Junior Katie Lynch added a game-high 16 points and dished out seven assists. Van Kovics is impressed with Njoku’s development.
“Sarah is a rebounding monster,” Van Kovics said. “She gets her hands on everything, and has improved her play in the post. She has a knack for being in position to get rebounds.”

Still smarting from a 24-point loss to Bethpage when the teams played in early January, the Rams exacted a little revenge on their home floor with a come-from-behind 46-39 win. The big three of Lynch, Njoku, and junior Lisa Nappi combined for 43 points, with Lynch leading the charge with 16. Nappi and Njoku combined for 13 of the team’s 18 fourth quarter points, as the Rams erased a six-point deficit. Njoku also pulled down 12 rebounds.

There are many keys to West Hempstead’s turnaround. With Lynch nursing injuries for much of the first half of the season, the Rams were without their top scorer and playmaker. “It was chaotic playing without Katie,” Van Kovics said. “We needed someone to handle the ball and control the offense. We were moving players around to try to find the right mix with Katie out. It’s hard to run an offense without a point guard.”

Van Kovics also decided to change philosophies on both ends of the floor. West Hempstead slowed the game down by walking the ball up the floor and running sets, thus controlling the tempo of the game. Defensively, the Rams abandoned the press, and now run multiple “junk” defenses designed to stop the opponent’s leading scorer, and not allow the opposition to get into any kind of rhythm.

Van Kovics is proud of his players. “The girls knew it wasn’t going to an easy season,” he said. “To their credit, they never quit, kept playing hard, and bought into a new system. I’m very happy with the way we’ve turned things around.”