Forest Hills Girls Basketball Beats Martin Van Buren, 60-39

Forest Hills High School girls varsity basketball team was never really in jeopardy of losing its Queens A East matchup against Martin Van Buren, playing solid defense as it dismantled the Vee Bees, 60-39, at home Tuesday night.

The game was their second in a row against teams ranked at the bottom of the division, before going up against strong rival Bayside.

While its offense sputtered at times, the Rangers defense didn't allow more than 12 points in any period, keeping the Vee Bees from getting back into the game.

Hero: Performance honors are shared by Senior guard Pareese Hankerson, who tallied a game-high 17 points and freshman point guard Jody Ann Humphrey, who added 15 in the victory.

Turning Point: Van Buren came as close as 11-6 early in the first period, but the Rangers went on an 8-4 run that closed out the first quarter 19-10. The Vee Bees played even with Forest Hills in the second stanza, but failed to make headway the rest of the way, as the home team won by a 21-point margin.

Quotable: "It was a good effort, but still, we played real sloppy," head coach Michelle Davis lamented. "The first two quarters, even into the third I had two of my starters (Humphrey and Imani Frances) in foul trouble; they both had four fouls. I had to pull them out. We finally got it together in the second half, but the first half was very sloppy." 

Davis also pointed out that her girls have to slow down at times and come up with better looks at the basket, instead of firing away with plenty of time left on the shot clock.

"Our shot selection was very poor today," she said. "We usually don't chuck up shots like that. I reminded them [of that] every single time we had a timeout...We're not using the 30 properly, and that's what we'll work on in practice tomorrow."

Bottom Line: The Rangers press was effective, forcing the Vee Bees into several turnovers. Ultimately, the team shot and rebounded well enough to beat a 1-5 opponent, but Davis noted that they will have to step up against stronger clubs as the season progresses.

 Who's Next? Forest Hills will host Bayside High School Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Box Score:

Teams

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Final

Martin Van Buren

10

8

9

12

39

Forest Hills

19

8

18

15

60