West Hempstead depth too much for Carle Place in Nassau B boys final
Christopher Young of West Hempstead, right, and teammate Anthony Graffeo-Jackson celebrate after the Rams' 54-45 win over Carle Place in the Nassau Class B boys basketball final at Farmingdale State College on Friday. Credit: James Escher
West Hempstead simply has too many weapons.
The size of Isaiah Blunt and Anthony Graffeo-Jackson kept the Rams in the first half, but it was the shooting of Chris Young and Evan Wilson that pushed top-seeded West Hempstead over the hump in the second half of its 54-45 win over No. 2 Carle Place in the Nassau Class B boys basketball final on Friday night at Farmingdale State.
Young and Wilson combined for five three-pointers in the third quarter, in which the Rams outscored the Frogs by 12 points, taking a 41-32 lead into the fourth.
“Chris kept telling Evan to shoot it and then Chris found his range from the top of the key,” Graffeo-Jackson said. “I feel like that’s what won us the game. It made us play harder every time they made one.”
Young had zero points in the first half and Wilson had just two as the shots weren’t falling for West Hempstead. But Graffeo-Jackson and Blunt were active on the offensive glass, creating second and third chances. Graffeo-Jackson had 10 points and Blunt had seven when the Rams trailed 24-21 at halftime.
“Everybody was like, ‘Keep your head up, we got this. We still have a half left,’” said Young, who totaled four three-pointers. “We wanted to finish strong and that’s what we did.”
Blunt, Graffeo-Jackson, Young and Wilson each finished with 13 points to help West Hempstead to its third county title in school history and first since 2003.
“We want to get the ball inside because we’re very strong inside and as a result of that, we don’t take many threes,” West Hempstead coach Eric Rubin said. “I think a lot of teams think we can’t shoot. That’s not the case, we’re just trying to go inside first. They kind of collapsed on us inside and the kids started to make some smart decisions in the second half, kicking the ball out and the shooting was great.”
Ryan Leary scored 17 points and Chris Zannino had 13 for Carle Place (13-9).
West Hempstead (18-4) will face Pierson in the Long Island championship/Southeast Regional semifinal at 4 p.m. on Monday at Center Moriches.
“We actually get to play a Suffolk team for once, which is the coolest part in my opinion,” Graffeo-Jackson said. “It’s a long trip, but I’m excited for it.”