Lady Rams rally past Roosevelt

The West Hempstead girls’ basketball team continued its strong play against Conference A-IV opponents this season, defeating Roosevelt, 45-39, last Friday night. The Lady Rams were down by eight points early in the third quarter, but were able to overcome the deficit, and eventually come away with the victory.

“We never gave up,” West Hempstead senior Jackie Christenson said. “We know we’re the better team. We kept going to the basket and drawing fouls.”

Christenson led the way on offense for her team with a game-high 14 points, while her twin sister, Nicole, finished with 10. Junior Kayla Cleare also contributed 10 points for the Lady Rams. 

West Hempstead currently sits in second place in Nassau Conference A-IV. But in the first half they looked far from a second-place team.

The Lady Rams struggled with ball security early on, and frequently turned the ball over. But the team’s strong defensive effort helped keep the game tied at 17 going into the half. 

West Hempstead then came out flat to start the second half, and soon found itself down 28-20 early in the third. The Lady Rams were on the verge of letting the game get away from them. 

Instead they showed a great deal of resiliency, and responded with a 13-0 run to give them a five-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

“We showed a little poise, and did a good job not getting frazzled,” West Hempstead head coach Chris Van Kovics said. 

Roosevelt would fight back, and even briefly take a three point lead late in the fourth. But, key buckets by both Jackie and Nicole Christenson, and clutch foul line shooting from Jamie Rodriguez and Angela Graci helped the Lady Rams come away with the win. 

 The Lady Rams have been making a strong push to make it back to the playoffs for the second consecutive season, after not playing in the postseason for over a decade. The team has an overall record of 8-5 and a 6-2 mark in conference play.