Froccaros scoring plenty for Port girls

Quality over quantity, it's true. Although, in Port Washington's case, it's more like quality equals quantity. In goals, that is.

The Vikings are 9-2 and in that jumble atop Nassau Conference A-I, despite a comparatively small roster of just 19 players. At the center of it, though, are the Froccaro cousins, seniors Alexa and Jackie, who've made scoring a family affair.

Alexa, a sparkplug with a quick first step, is Long Island's second-leading scorer with 68 points. Jackie, whose strength is her strength, has fully recovered from ACL surgery two years ago and is fifth in Nassau with 63 points.

Jackie is reserved and Alexa is more outgoing, Vikings coach Raquel Piraino said, but "they've played with each other since they were little," so on the field they, uh, relate well to each other. In their last game, a 16-6 win over Plainedge, each Froccaro had six goals and two assists.

"They're the tone setters," Piraino said. "They've been captains for three years and when they do their thing, it makes everyone around them better . . . They want to succeed, but they understand it takes more than two."

It does. Port Washington has managed to offset its lack of depth with contributions from everyone, including weathering a stretch three weeks ago during which illness and a suspension left the Vikings with 14 players.

They've done it by scoring. A lot. The Vikings average 17 goals per game, have cracked 20 six times, and their boxscores are like a phone book page -- everyone's got numbers. That includes Christina Commons (44 points), Kaitlyn Brown (32), Danielle Rosmarin (19 goals), Emily Rosenthal (12 goals) and strong play in net from Samantha Tilts.

"In a way it's a benefit," the coach said. "We don't have much depth, so our conditioning has to be good and everyone gets into games."

BOYS BASKETBALL

Achraf Yacoubou, Newsday's Nassau player of the year, has been selected as an ESPN Rise second-team All American. Yacoubou averaged 19.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.8 steals this season, and is the only Long Island player on either the first or second team.

The only other players from New York to garner honors were Yacoubou's co-state Mr. Basketball, Jabarie Hinds of Mount Vernon, and Dajuan Coleman of Jamesville DeWitt, which Yacoubou and Lutheran beat, 75-71, in the Federation semifinals. On Wednesday, the Calhoun girls team lost to Jericho, 4-3, ending a winning streak that started in 2008, encompassed two undefeated Nassau championship seasons and ended at 39 games.

"It's a tough loss," said coach Greg Muscarella, who has guided the team to six of the last nine Nassau titles and last week enjoyed a win over Great Neck South that he called a highlight of his career. His team came back from being down 1-0 in five of seven matches to beat Conference I rival Great Neck South. In Wednesday's match, his squad didn't have such luck, losing three three-set games to another Conference I foe.

"The games just slid through our fingers," Muscarella said. "We beat ourselves up a little bit down the stretch." Muscarella said his team had several chances to "close the deal," but they weren't able to come through.

The game, rescheduled because of roster issues, featured what Muscarella called a "gritty" Jericho team that "earned the win." Jericho (6-1), is tied for first in Conference I with Calhoun. The Colts will have a chance to get even with the Jayhawks as the teams meet again on Friday at Jericho.