West Hempstead boys basketball team tops Cold Spring Harbor, helped by big games from Evan Wilson and Isaiah Blunt
West Hempstead’s Evan Wilson (center) drives to the hoop against Cold Spring Harbor during a Nassau boys basketball game on Monday, January 6, 2025. Credit: Jonathan Singh/Jonathan Singh
The combination of Isaiah Blunt and Evan Wilson has proved to be a handful for opposing defenses.
Both are among the top scorers in Nassau, and the West Hempstead senior duo has a sense of responsibility when it comes to bearing the load for a junior- and sophomore-laden boys basketball team.
When West Hempstead hosted Cold Spring Harbor on Monday in a matchup of the last two teams without a loss in Nassau League VIII, Blunt and Wilson were ultra-reliable. Wilson scored 28 points and Blunt added 18 to help West Hempstead to a 58-49 victory.
The pair totaled 13 of the Rams’ 17 fourth-quarter points.
“It’s a pleasure,” Wilson said of playing with Blunt. “In my opinion, he’s a great player on Long Island, one of the best players on Long Island. We complement each other’s game well.”
Blunt added: “I agree, the same. We’ve both improved since last year, average more points. We have a big role on the team now.”
Wilson scored 10 third-quarter points as West Hempstead (7-4, 5-0) took a 41-40 lead into the fourth.
Blunt scored six points in the final quarter on a step-back three-pointer to make it 44-40 with 6:51 left and a three-point play to extend the lead to 51-44 with 1:27 remaining. The Seahawks (4-6, 3-1) never inched within seven points again.
Blunt, a 6-4 forward who garnered 2024 Newsday All-Long Island second-team honors, is averaging 21.5 points. Wilson, a 6-foot guard, is averaging 21.3 points.
“They make coaches look good,” West Hempstead coach Eric Rubin said. “I’ve coached a long time. I’m not a different coach than I used to be, but when you got guys with that much talent, it really helps.”
The Rams, now in Class A, won the Long Island Class B title last season. Monday’s win snapped a three-game losing streak.
“We just went 0-3,” Blunt said. “We needed this win to get our momentum back.”
Said Wilson, “It’s extremely important that we won today. It means everything.”
Blunt picked up his fourth foul with 5:29 left, when the Rams led by only four, but never fouled out.
Carter Prizzi, Cold Spring Harbor’s 6-8 sophomore center, had 12 points and made a tremendous impact as a rim protector. He fouled out on Blunt’s and-one, and West Hempstead went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line in the final minute.
“He’s really good,” Rubin said of Prizzi. “He developed a lot — more offensively — from last year. He’s got some good post moves. We were able to double him, and that helped. But defensively, he really changed the game.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.