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Mostly Cloudy Clarke falls to West Hempstead
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Clarke's Ashley Aleffi seeks an open teammate while being defended by West Hempstead's Lisa Nappi during last Friday's Conference ABC-V game.
Frank Koester/Herald
The 13th time was a charm for West Hempstead’s girls’ basketball team.
After 12 defeats to open the season, Katie Lynch, Lisa Nappi and Sarah Njoku led a 66-40 Conference ABC-V victory over visiting Clarke last Friday evening in a whistle-filled game.
Lynch scored a game-high 22 points, including 14 from the foul line, Nappi poured in 21 and grabbed 14 rebounds and Njoku added 14 points as West Hempstead avenged a December loss to Clarke, which got 10 points apiece from senior Lauren Meade and sophomore Danielle Ferrara. Both teams are 1-9 in conference play with four games remaining.
Clarke, which beat West Hempstead 54-41 in the first meeting, had its poorest performance of the season according to coach Suzanne Mooney. “We were flat for some reason,” she said. “It’s disappointing because we came into this game off a bunch of good efforts. Glen Cove is one of the better teams [in the conference] and we were tied with them in the fourth quarter.”
The only time Friday’s game was even was during the National Anthem. Nappi, a sophomore, scored the first six points and the hosts were off and running. Nappi had 10 first-quarter points and Lynch scored seven in the second quarter as West Hempstead built a 29-17 halftime lead.
“This has to be the first time we scored in the 60’s in about seven years,” West Hempstead coach Chris Van Kovics said. “We’ve played well the past three games. I’m really pleased. We’re finally healthy and it’s nice to see the girls rewarded for their hard work.”
Lynch, a junior point guard who missed eight games with foot and back injuries, finished with more points than West Hempstead’s offense produced on five occasions without her. “Having Katie in the lineup is so important,” Van Kovics said. “On top of everything she provides we don’t have to shift anyone else around. Everyone is playing in the right spots.”
West Hempstead outscored Clarke 19-5 in the third quarter and led by 26 entering the fourth. Each team scored 18 points in a final quarter marred by tick-tack fouls, most of which went against the visitors. West Hempstead sank 24 of 37 free throws on the night, while Clarke attempted only 13, hitting five. All told, 44 fouls were called and a combined five players fouled out.
“Nothing went well tonight,” Mooney said. “I think we were too overconfident. We never got into a flow and we didn’t execute.”
Clarke visits Lawrence on Friday at 4:45 p.m. and goes to Great Neck North on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. start.
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