High-scoring Riley Weiss happy to get assists for Hewlett
Hewlett High School basketball player Riley Weiss at a practice with her team on Jan. 23, 2020. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Riley Weiss, the most prolific girls basketball scorer on Long Island this season, actually would rather pass the ball than shoot it.
Weiss, the 5-9 freshman combo guard at Hewlett in her third season on varsity, easily could be envisioned finishing her career as one of the top scorers in New York State history. Right now she only has eyes for finding teammates with a clear look at the basket.
“I like scoring. I like getting the ball in the basket,” she said. ”But helping a teammate do it? It feels more valuable.”
Weiss surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career last month as she scored 30 against Jericho in what would end up a tough six-point loss.
She is averaging 29.9 points, which ranks first on Long Island. With more than three years of varsity play remaining — and if she can keep up the daunting pace she has set — Weiss could end up ranking among the elite.
“There is little doubt that she is a very special player,” said coach Anthony Scro, whose team is hanging tough in Nassau A-III with a 9-7 mark and a 5-4 record in the division. “Could we talk about her finishing a career among the greatest scorers in state history? Sure we could, but that’s not her goal.”
“No one has thought of Hewlett as a basketball force and I’d like to see that,” Weiss said. “No one player does that, but I think our group is working on its chemistry and it’s coming.”
“She’s been around basketball all her life and it shows,” Scro said, referencing her father, Lawrence-Woodmere boys basketball coach Jeff Weiss. “We have some athletes on our team, but she has been all about instilling the team mentality. We have a lot of players who do girls basketball as a second sport, so that’s important.”
Weiss, the 31st-year coach at LWA, said Riley’s personality is the cornerstone of the unselfishness.
“She’s nice, humble and sharing — that’s her personality,” he said. “That she’s grown up in a basketball family, those qualities have been fostered.”
Riley’s twin brother, Ryan, also is thriving on the Hewlett boys basketball team, leading the Bulldogs in scoring.
A glance at Riley Weiss’ stats leaves an impression. First, she’s made 62 three-pointers as well as 67 free throws — the first sets the current standard on the Island and the second ranks high — meaning that she is as comfortable spotting up on the perimeter as she is slashing to the basket. And she’s not afraid of the contact that comes with it.
“I like shooting the ball from ‘three,’ but I will get to the basket if it’s there,” she said. “It’s about trying to take the best shot for your team on every possession.”
Weiss also has two 40-point games and nine 30-point games.
“She is able to take that role because she is a truly hard worker, she plays defense with fierce passion and she is humble,” Scro said.
On Hewlett, Weiss needs the ball in her hands often and she identifies that as the most important thing she needs to improve on. “I want to be as good a ballhandler as I can be,” she said.
Scro would like to see her move without the ball a bit more. If Hewlett is going to be a playoff team, and if it is going to continue to grow in stature as a program, the Bulldogs are going to see quicker competition.
One thing that is sure to develop fast for Weiss is her recruiting picture. Even as a freshman, some first-tier programs already have taken notice and that group is only sure to grow. Jeff Weiss believes that because his daughter is a high academic achiever, Ivy League programs could end up as an interest as recruiting develops.
For the most part, Weiss eschews all the college talk because there will be time enough for that.
“I’ll say that top programs have made initial inquiries, but she is only going to get better and better,” Scro said. “With the work ethic that she has, I have to believe she’ll go to college anywhere she wants to.”
“I like getting the ball in the basket. But helping a teammate do it? It feels more valuable.” — Riley Weiss
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
