Balanced Lynbrook enjoys solid season

Following a late-season push to finish a half-game shy of a tie for second place in the stacked Conference A-4, Lynbrook’s girls’ basketball team used a tenth-seed berth to advance to the Nassau Class A quarterfinals for the first time in four seasons.

Paying back the author of its quarterfinal ouster in 2016, Lynbrook downed seventh-seeded host Elmont 57-43 in the second round of the county Class A playoffs Feb. 20, before falling in the quarterfinals five days later to No. 2 seed and eventual finalist Locust Valley, which faces top-seeded Floral Park in the championship game this Saturday.

Lady Owls guard Camilla Bahri was named All-County a second straight season leading Lynbrook with 10.8 points per game and 34 3-pointers, while fellow junior Leanna Sullivan (8.2 ppg) took All-Conference honors at forward and sophomore guard Kyla Nembach (9.8 ppg, 19 3-pointers) was the club’s second-leading scorer and an Honorable Mention All-County honoree.

“Our conference was the toughest in Nassau and we were pretty much in every single game,” said Lynbrook head coach Stephen LoCicero, whose team finished 9-5 in A-4, 13-8 overall. “It’s a long season and a very physical conference that takes a lot out of you, especially with an up-tempo style like ours. This team was extremely resilient.”

Running and gunning and full-court pressing in the style of 1990s UNLV men’s teams, Lynbrook finished in a virtual tie with Floral Park as A-4's No. 2 offense scoring 52.1 points a game. Bahri and Nembach each had a season high of 20 points – both in road losses – while six-foot junior guard-forward Kayla Schwizer (Honorable Mention All-County) set the team’s season high scoring 24 at home in a win against North Shore and led the Lady Owls with nine rebounds and six blocked shots per game.

“We modeled our game on the Runnin’ Rebels under Jerry Tarkanian,” LoCicero said. “It’s a fast-paced, exciting style that fits well with players like Camilla. She’s a pure shooter with a great inside and outside game. Kyla Nembach also has a great style and knowledge of the game. She’s young but she’s a leader. Kayla’s a great defensive presence who’s coming on offensively too, working very hard.”

After alternating wins with losses all winter right up through Jan. 25, Lynbrook strung together four victories – including a 70-43 drubbing of visiting Valley Stream North Jan. 30 – to close its league schedule on a 5-1 run. “We got better down the stretch,” LoCicero said. “That’s what we prepared for, to be playing our best at the end of the season.”

Big sister Sara Bahri, a senior center-forward, earned Academic All-County honors while freshman forward Kaelyn O’Brien was fourth on the club averaging 6.2 points per game.