By Will Sammon
Inconsistent production. A thumb injury. A move from the starting lineup to the bench.
It wasn’t the regular season Sierra Green envisioned for herself after the junior led Francis Lewis to the PSAL Class AA girls’ basketball city championship last year.
“It was hard at first,” Green said. “Not starting … coming off the bench, it was hard to accept. But I got my mind set right.”
It took time, but her game has followed. The regular season is over. It’s the playoffs now and Green is back to doing what she does best on the court offensively, which, was pretty much everything in Francis Lewis’ 73-53 quarterfinal win over Curtis Sunday at Lehman College. She scored a game-high 22 points.
Green checked into the game with about three minutes left in the first quarter and Lewis leading 16-8.
On her first touch, she made a spin move inside the paint to break free from one defender, crossed-over another defender then made a reverse layup.
Less than 10 seconds later, she made a steal and scored another layup. Then Green nailed a deep three from the top of the key. Ten seconds later, it was another steal, and another layup for Green. She scored nine straight unanswered points in a span of two minutes to close the first quarter.
But she wasn’t done.
Green made a deep three-pointer from the left wing 10 seconds into the second quarter to break the game open and give Lewis a commanding 28-8 lead.
“Every time I threw the ball up I felt like it was going to go in,” Green said.
Yeah, Sierra Green is back.
“In the beginning of the season she was putting pressure on herself to make plays for everyone,” Francis Lewis Coach Steve Tsai said. “The first couple of years, what made her successful was our team zipping the ball and it eventually getting into her hands as she’s wide open. That’s what she’s best at: shooting and just being aggressive from that point on and not having to handle the ball and make plays for other people.”
Dominique Williams scored 14 points and Taliyah Brisco added nine points and a slew of steals for Lewis.
The Patriots led by as many as 33 in their first game after the controversial 117-8 first round playoff win against Brooklyn Collegiate.
Despite receiving national attention about the game and some backlash, Tsai and players said they weren’t distracted at all.
“We brushed it off,” Green said. “Everyone is going to talk.”
The conversation now is about Green thriving once again and Lewis defending its title with gusto. It faces top-seeded South Shore in the semifinals this weekend at a day, time and site still to be determined.
“This was very important,” Green said. “Everyone’s been sleeping on us this year, but we’re opening their eyes now.”
