The Riverhead Blue Waves girls' basketball team may have lost four games over the holiday break, but by playing a brutal schedule Coach Dave Spinella's team came out more than ready on Tuesday afternoon, winning at Bellport, 61-34. Shaniece Allen paced a solid all-around team effort for the Blue Waves by scoring 12 points and making 10 steals. Ali Barthalt added 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kara Vonatzski had 10 points and nine rebounds while Emily Commins netted 10 points and Jalyn Brown had seven points.

"This was total team basketball," Spinella said. "Ten of our 12 girls got into the scoring column. We played a solid, solid game."

Bellport hung tough early on as its sharpshooter, Ikema Ross, tallied 13 of her 17 points in the first half. Still, Riverhead led by 14-10 after one quarter and stretched its lead to 31-17 at the half. Brown, Barthalt and Vonatzski all chipped in in the second quarter, combining for 13 points to help the Blue Waves (3-5, 2-0 Suffolk County League IV) take control of the game.

Riverhead closed the fourth quarter with a 19-5 run. Spinella liked the fact that only five of those points were scored by his starters. The Riverhead bench made a huge contribution.

"We learned so much from our non-league schedule," he said. "We saw things equal or above what we are going to see in the league. These teams we played were faster and bigger. We were ready for Bellport."

Spinella knew the non-league portion of the schedule was daunting, but it was also designed to gauge where his young team is and highlight where it needs improvement.

In the first two rounds of the Suffolk Shootout Tournament at Northport High School, Riverhead was matched up against two of the better teams in the county in Walt Whitman Wildcats and Ward Melville Patriots. The Blue Waves fell in the first game to Whitman, 49-33, on Dec. 27. Riverhead trailed by eight points at the half before Whitman slowly pulled away in the second half. Barthalt and Allen netted eight points apiece for Riverhead.

In the second round on Dec. 29, Ward Melville opened with a 19-10 run and went on to beat the Blue Waves, 55-31. Riverhead, sparked by Vonatzski's 12 points, settled down in the second and third quarters, and was trailing by 13 going into the final quarter. But Ward Melville closed with a 17-6 surge.

Riverhead lost a heartbreaker the following day in the consolation round, losing at the buzzer to Sewanhaka, 54-53. Gabby Ford (16 points) grabbed a missed foul shot with 6.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter and raced the length of the court to hit a jump shot at the final buzzer to lift Sewanhaka to the thrilling victory.

The Blue Waves had found themselves in an early 18-6 hole before rallying to outscore Sewanhaka, 33-17, in the second and third quarters. Barthalt (17 points), Vonatzski (14) and Brown (11) led the Blue Waves in scoring.

Spinella said that after giving spirited efforts against top-flight teams in the first two rounds, Riverhead came out flat in the final game. "Whitman and Ward Melville are two of the top teams in the county," he said. "Their depth and talent won it for them in the end. We gave it our all, but it just didn't go our way. The last game we were flat. We were not ready to play."

Riverhead capped a busy post-holiday stretch by traveling to Cambridge, Mass., Friday and losing to Cambridge Rindge and Latin, 50-33. The Blue Waves hung tough for much of the game and were down by seven at the half. Down the stretch, Riverhead was forced to foul, and Cambridge's lead ballooned. Brown paced Riverhead with 13 points.

Still, Spinella believes his team will benefit from this brutal stretch of games. "We played a lot of very good teams, playoff teams," he said. "We didn't lack effort. We played hard. We've got a young team. This will help prepare us for the league season. We have just got to learn how to win some of these games."

The win at Bellport was a good start.

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