Late rally lifts West Hempstead

Sophomore Jackie Christenson hit for 10 of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to spark West Hempstead to a 42-37 come-from-behind victory at Valley Stream South in a Conference A-III girls’ basketball game Jan. 3.

The win snapped a three-game slide for the Lady Rams (3-4 overall), who trailed by five points early in the fourth but went ahead to stay on Christenson’s three-pointer with 3:06 remaining. Jackie’s twin sister, Nicole, had 10 points, while senior Jessica Liberato led the Lady Falcons (1-7) with 14 points and five assists.

“We’ve been working hard on cutting down turnovers and even though we had some tonight, we did a better job taking care of the ball,” West Hempstead coach Chris Van Kovics said. “Any shot is better than a turnover.”

South led 28-25 after three quarters thanks to a buzzer-beater by senior Angela Aragona, and had its largest advantage after freshman Alana Williams (eight points, eight rebounds) opened the fourth by converting a pass by Liberato. But Williams fouled out with 5:48 to go and sophomore Janise Hernandez picked up her fifth personal 20 seconds later, and the Lady Rams took over down the stretch.

Sophomore Kara Lynch and Jackie Christenson both went 2-for-2 from the line in the final 36 seconds to seal the outcome.

“Our effort is there, but we keep getting beat on the boards,” VSS coach Dan Drumm said. “It’s tough when teams are getting four and five shots a trip and we’re getting one. We’re not the biggest team and we need to box out better.”

After trailing by five points in the early going, the Lady Falcons enjoyed a nine-point spurt and led 11-9 at the end of the opening quarter. Williams, junior Erin Meaney, Liberato — three-pointer — and Hernandez had a basket apiece during the rally.

Both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter and combined for only six points as the first half ended deadlocked at 13. Williams put South ahead by four before Jackie and Nicole Christenson both sank shots to pull the visitors even.

The scoring pace picked up in a third quarter that featured more points — 27 — than the opening half. Senior Amanda Gabayan had five straight points to give West Hempstead a 23-20 lead, but a bucket by Meaney and two by senior Christie DeMarco vaulted South back in front 26-23. It wasn’t until the fourth-quarter foul woes saw the lead change one last time.

“We want to make more foul shots than the opposition takes,” said Van Kovics, whose team shot 11 of 16 from the line compared to South’s 3 of 6. “That means we’re going to hard to the basket, attacking and trying to make things happen.”

Senior Kelly Walsh added four points for West Hempstead, which hosts the rematch Jan. 31. The Lady Rams travel to Manhasset this Friday for a 6:30 p.m. start, while Valley Stream South tries to get on track against visiting Glen Cove at 7:30 p.m.