The host Riverhead Blue Waves played the role of a holiday season grinch to near perfection last Thursday, stealing the ball 27 times from the rattled Bellport Clippers and running off to a 58-23 win in a Suffolk County League IV girls basketball opener.
Happy holidays!
"We had to go out and give it all we had," Riverhead guard Shaniece Allen said after her team's final game of the calendar year.
Give credit to Riverhead's defense, which had been a source of discontent for the team's coach, Dave Spinella. Spinella saw something lacking in the team's previous four games, all non-league contests that produced only one win. So, the Blue Waves spent their last few practices working on their defense, and the effort seems to have paid off. In addition to producing 27 steals, including a career-high 13 by Allen, Riverhead used an assortment of defenses to hold Bellport (1-4, 0-1) to 25-percent shooting from the field. At various times Riverhead employed a three-quarter court zone, 1-2-1-1, 2-2-1 half-court trap, man-to-man and a 2-3 zone. "We had to get creative," said Spinella.
Also, Bellport didn't help its cause by committing 49 turnovers.
"We hustled and played better defense, but it's hard to tell how much of it was us and how much of it was them," said Spinella.
All 11 Riverheaders who were available to play made it into the scoring column. Allen, who was pulled from the game with 2 minutes 44 seconds left in the third quarter, was the high scorer with 15 points. Jalyn Brown added 10 points and Ellie Markewitz came off the bench for nine.
The leading scorer for Bellport was Jocelyn Paige, who netted five points before fouling out with 1:05 left in the third quarter.
After Bellport took a 5-0 lead, Riverhead went on a 29-3 run, with Allen and Brown combining for 15 of those points. But it was Riverhead's defense that led to offense. "It made a big difference," said Brown.
Spinella made wholesale substitutions late in the third quarter with the game safe in hand. But even after that Riverhead still kept working on its lead, which grew to as many as 36 points when a basket by Aly Doscinski made it 53-17 with a little more than three minutes remaining.
One of Riverhead's reserve players, Kelly Zilnicki, suffered a bloody nose and left the game with 3:42 to go. Afterward Spinella said she was O.K.
And what about the state of Riverhead's defense?
"It wasn't about their defense, it was how we played after the first quarter," Bellport Coach Rodney O'Neal said. "I personally think that we came out fighting. We missed two layups in a row, and our demeanor, our emotions, got the best of us, and we didn't play well after that."
Pointing out how important defense is, Spinella said this is the best offensive Riverhead team he has coached, but also the worst defensive team he has had, and thus the 1-3 record the Blue Waves took into last Thursday's game.
Asked what the surprisingly large margin of victory said about her team, Brown replied: "This is the beginning. No predictions."
Spinella said the Blue Waves surely have things to work on. He said their shot selection was not always good and they made too many fouls (Ali Barthalt fouled out with 1:04 left). At the same time, he noted, it's always nice to enter the winter break with a league-opening win under your belt.
"We did what we were supposed to do," he said. "There are tough teams in our league. It's not always going to be that easy. We have to be prepared every night."
bliepa@timesreview.com