VSC captures fourth straight

Valley Stream Central ran its winning streak to four games and took another step toward qualifying for the Nassau Class AA girls’ basketball playoffs last Friday evening with a convincing 55-33 victory over visiting Port Washington.

Junior Naomi Bolasingh had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, and senior Brianna Hendricks (10 points, 16 rebounds) posted her fourth consecutive double-double to lead the Lady Eagles, who completed a season sweep of the Lady Vikings and moved into sole possession of second place in Conference AA-II with a record of 5-2.

“We beat them in overtime at their place and talked yesterday about coming out stronger this time,” head coach Mary Parisi said after VSC topped the 50-point mark for a fourth straight game. “We didn’t even want to think about OT,” she added. “We wanted to make sure we got it done in regulation. I don’t think we could’ve hoped for a better start. Our shots were falling and our passing was on.”

With Bolasingh scoring five points and senior Kallie Demas adding four, the Lady Eagles enjoyed their highest-scoring opening quarter of the season and took a 16-4 lead into the second. Freshman Bella Gandasegui opened the second with a trey and added another bucket to help the lead swell to as many as 17. Demas scored all eight of her points in a first half that ended with Central holding a comfortable 27-12 advantage.

However, Hendrick spent the last four minutes of the half with a bag of ice on her left ankle after leaping for a rebound. “I was concerned a little bit,” Parisi said. “But Brianna’s a gamer. She kept the ice on during halftime and felt better.”

Hendrick looked fine in the third quarter and scored her team’s first four points of the second half. Port Washington got a boost from Christina Doria-Pengo, who scored all six of her points in the third, and outscored the Lady Eagles by one despite a couple of treys and eight points by Bolasingh. “Teams usually faceguard her or play a box-and-one,” Parisi said of Bolasingh. “They kind of let her do her own thing out there, so that worked out well for us.”

The Lady Eagles began their winning streak with a 54-46 overtime victory at MacArthur on Jan. 9. They scored nine of the 10 points in the extra quarter and overcame a 25-point effort by the Lady Generals’ Stephanie Volpe. Bolasingh (15), senior Nia-Maya Outlaw (13) and Hendrick (10 points, 15 rebounds) all scored in double figures, and sophomore Mikala Casimir chipped in eight points. 

“We have many of the same girls that led us last season,” Parisi said. “I’ve been waiting for everything to click, and things have really taken off since the MacArthur game. We handed them their first loss.”

Central followed with wins over East Meadow (53-38) and Hicksville (56-45), and needs just two wins in its last five games to secure a spot in the playoffs.