Ania Crocker of Freeport reacts as the Red Devils close...

Ania Crocker of Freeport reacts as the Red Devils close in on a 54-38 win over host Uniondale in a Nassau Conference AA-1 girls basketball game on Tuesday. Credit: James Escher

Ania Crocker missed a few days of practice with an illness, so Freeport coach Meredith Jones decided to bring the junior guard off the bench on Tuesday.

It didn’t take long for Crocker to prove that her game was perfectly healthy.

Crocker scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the second quarter as Freeport defeated host Uniondale, 54-38, in Nassau Conference AA-I girls basketball action Tuesday.

Freeport, which has won 14 of its first 15 games this season, found itself in a rare situation with a deficit after the opening quarter. Crocker was determined to change this when she took the court in the second period.

“Our team was down and I don’t like being down at all,” Crocker said. “I feel like our team needed me to come in and pick it up for them and that’s what I wanted to do.”

Freeport turned an 11-9 deficit after the first quarter into a 29-20 lead entering halftime with Crocker scoring her 14 of the Red Devils’ 20 second-quarter points.

“She really was a spark for us when she came off the bench,” Jones said. “And she’s such a lighthearted person. She’s goofy and fun and then you see her step on the court and she’s this scoring machine. But you can’t forget, she’s also a great defender.”

Freeport carried its strong second quarter out of halftime as the Red Devils outscored Uniondale, 22-10, in the third quarter. Taneece Wooden scored 11 of her 17 points in the third quarter and said she felt the team needed to keep the high intensity.

“I feel it was really important,” said Wooden, who also had eight rebounds and four assists. “I feel like if we play with teams, teams feel like they can compete with us and I feel like there’s no reason why anyone can compete with us because of our defense and our intensity.”

Darrian Jackson had 18 points for Uniondale (1-5). Freeport improved to 14-1 overall, including 6-1 in the conference. The Red Devils have finished right around .500 each of the last three seasons. But the early success has the team confident this year could end differently.

“It’s my last year so we’re trying to take the LIC this year and take it all,” said Wooden, a senior. “We want to put Freeport back on the map.”

“They’ve really bought into what’s possible this year,” Jones said. “We’ve had successful teams, we’ve been to the semifinals several times and I think this year, they are looking at it as more of an opportunity to get past it and the sky’s the limit.”

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