It’s Goode To Be Out On The Basketball Court

Justice Goode said no matter the longevity of this high school boys basketball season, he was elated just to be able to get out there.

That’s been apparent, especially Friday as the Westhampton Beach senior shooting guard forced turnovers, stole passes, set up shots and drove to the basket in the Hurricanes’ 57-44 loss to visiting Hauppauge.

“I’ve waited a long time to get back on the court, and to be able to play high school basketball for my last year at Westhampton feels amazing,” said Goode, who racked up 13 points in that game. “At the end of the day, what matters most is the intensity and tenacity we play with.”

He continued to be a contributor in the Hurricanes’ 59-38 win over Rocky Point Monday, where the senior scored eight points.

With just seven players available February 19 — including seniors Shaun Williams (six points) and Lou Hagopian (two points) — Monday’s matchup proved to be a little easier on the boys with the return of junior forward Cameron DePetris. The St. Anthony’s transfer, who racked up a team-high 16 points, had to sit out last week after missing practice the day prior.

“In a season like this where you don’t have the preseason, and the kids haven’t had a day off since February 3 — when the season began — you get a little tired,” head coach Tim McDermott said following the Friday loss. “They’re not in the shape that they normally would be, but what I love about my team is those guys keep playing no matter what; they fought and battled until the end.”

Junior point guard Nick Waszkelewicz, who racked up 12 points including two three-pointers in the win over Rocky Point, shot nearly every time he got the ball in his hands Friday. He scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in that game in the first half, but was held to just two free-throws in the third quarter.

“I feel like my shooting’s been on. I look for a lot of space, so once I got by my defender the court opens up,” Waszkelewicz said. “But just being out on the court makes things feel more normal and better because it takes my mind off of what else is going on in the world.”

Goode said he thinks his Hurricanes (3-3 overall, 2-3 in League V) have played hard-fought games, but believes his team needs to play smarter moving forward.

“We’ve played teams that have extremely tough presses, and we’ve overcome them. But one thing I will say is that we need to slow the pace down when inbounding the ball and moving it up the court,” the senior said. “We have an arsenal of quick and shifty players that can make their way up and down the court with ease, but sometimes it is a matter of relaxing, slowing down and passing through the press.”

After facing what McDermott said are the top teams in League V— Kings Park, Half Hollow Hills West and Hauppauge — the head coach likes where his team is at.

“We’ve put together very tough, very competitive first halves, and we definitely have some talent to work with over the next two or three years,” McDermott said. “This season has been unprecedented, throwing them things that they haven’t faced before, and going against very talented teams without having as much practice. There’s also a lot of kids new to the team this year. So not having the chemistry of a team that’s been together for a few years, they’ve done very well with picking up a lot of stuff on the fly.”

As for the seniors, the coach said he told them he doesn’t want them to have any regrets.

“For those guys I want them to enjoy the rest of this opportunity,” McDermott said. “I think the pandemic has been hard for everybody, but particularly for kids — a lot of them play sports and they put a lot of their time and hard work into this. This is their high school experience. You don’t want them to look back and there’s nothing memorable to them. So I want them to go out and feel like they did everything that they could in their last two games — to be aggressive, to go out there and be the players that I know they can be.”

With one game left in the season, a February 24 home game against Harborfields, results of which were not available by press time, Goode said he’s hoping to do just that.

“It means everything to me knowing with everything going on, we’re still able to compete and play basketball at the highest level we can on a daily basis,” the senior said. “Now, what I’m focused on is helping lead my team through the next couple games to end with a winning record.”

Westhampton Beach junior guard Olivia Rongo is a do-it-all kind of player.

In the Hurricanes’ 46-40 win over Rocky Point Monday, the second victory of the season, she scored a game-high 15 points, including five field goals and five points off free-throws. The junior guard also finished with eight steals, many of which her Westhampton team (2-4 overall, 2-3 in League V) turned into points.

“It’s felt amazing to be back out on the court,” Rongo said previously. “I think we all really just needed some normalcy, hopping back into what we’re used to.”

Molly McCarthy added 12 points —hitting two three-pointers, scoring two field goals and hitting two free throws — and Caroline Henke had nine.

The Hurricanes also played in their final game of the season Wednesday, at Harborfields, results of which were not available by press time.

“We’re rebuilding, finding our rhythm,” head coach Katie Peters said. “I think we have a dedicated group, a focused group, a resilient group, and you put those things together usually good things come out of it.”