V.S. South sets tone for future

Valley Stream South’s basketball season played out as a saga – starting with the Lady Falcons plunged into crisis, scrabbling for weeks to rise out of the depths, and ending on a cliffhanger promising hope, with new heroes coming to the fore.

Taking up the reins at VSS on short notice, new head coach Daryl Johnson assumed his greatest obstacle would be an abridged time frame for setting up his system. Soon that problem, relatively speaking, became minor, as seismic personnel shifts suddenly flipped the lay of the land: Two-time All-County senior forward Chibugo Obichere – also a reigning state champion hurdler – left the team after just one game, with senior center Deanna Martin following eight days later.

“All of that was a big blow,” said Johnson, whose club went 7-12 overall, finishing fifth in Conference A-4 at 5-7. “Whenever you lose good players, especially a player of Chibugo’s caliber, it’s tough for everybody to adjust to new roles and responsibilities.”

Quickly drawing up a plan B, Johnson handed the keys to South’s offense to point guard Hailey Roberts – a two-time All-Conference sophomore.

Assuming full team leadership a year ahead of schedule, Roberts scored 16.1 points per game – second-highest in A-4, with a season-high 28 against league-rival sister Valley Stream North on Jan. 16 – while leading VSS out of an eight-game skid to close on a 5-4 run.

“I told Hailey early in the season she’d be our focal point,” Johnson said. “We needed her to assert herself and not defer to anyone on offense. I’m happy with how she stepped up, not only running our offense but also defensively.”

While instructed not to defer, Roberts was not averse to collaborating – forming the league’s most lethal backcourt with junior guard Erica Sarpong (12.2 ppg.) In a typical display, the South tandem split the scoring load in a season-finale 56-28 dismantling of VSN last Saturday, with Sarpong’s 22 points stacked on Roberts’ 23.

“That’s been our one-two punch all year,” Johnson said. “Erica worked hard and had a great season. I think she’ll come back next year ready to rock and roll.”

With an eye to the future, Johnson was also encouraged by the play of next-gen Lady Falcons guards Ciara Gabaldon (sophomore) and Avani Voytelmgum (freshman.) “Ciara gives us an extra ballhandler and she’s a surprisingly good rebounder for an undersized guard,” Johnson said. “Avani gave us some good minutes, and kept improving.”

Johnson – a former assistant girls’ coach at Long Island Lutheran and St. Anthony’s – said he learned some lessons in his first-ever season at the helm, and believes there’s a fast track to contender status for South.

“This year was fun and frustrating rolled into one,” Johnson said. “Our mantra is: ‘Get better every day.’ I think we did that, and we’ll continue. I look forward to having a whole offseason to build on what we started. My thinking is we should be competing for conference championships. We’ve got talent and we’re ready to work.”