Boys Basketball: Riverhead’s season comes to an end in Deer Park

Trying to win their second Suffolk County Class AA boys basketball tournament game in less than 24 hours, the Riverhead High School Blue Waves put up a valiant effort but fell to host Deer Park, 67-50, on Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Ryan Bitzer scored a game-high 29 points to pace gritty Riverhead (9-11), which had defeated West Babylon, 73-62, in an out-bracket game on Friday night.

Behind an 11-2 spurt in the second quarter, the No. 19 Blue Waves trailed the third-seeded Falcons, 32-30, at the half. But a fatigued Riverhead team ran out of steam in the second half as the hosts went on a 10-2 spurt to open the third period to grab a 42-32 lead.

The Blue Waves came within 45-38 late in the period before senior guard Kyle Bradford scored 13 of his 15 points over a 4:14 span to help Deer Park (16-3) pull away to a 60-43 advantage.

Senior forward Sean Scott led the Falcons with 22 points and junior guard Keith Williams added 15 points.

Forward Brandon Tolliver contributed 11 points for the Blue Waves.