Boys Basketball: Moore has action to go with his talk
The authoritative, loud voice barking instructions from the Riverhead High School bench doesn’t belong to a coach. Actually, it’s Reggie Moore. Whether it be from the bench or on the basketball court, Moore does a lot of talking. And when he’s playing, spectators are undoubtedly talking about him.
With Moore, you see, there is a lot to talk about.
Although Moore has been a varsity player for the Riverhead Blue Waves since he was a freshman, this is the first time that the senior guard has played for Riverhead’s summer league team, and he has been looking good. In fact, the summer league team’s coach, Elwood Lamb, says Moore looks better than ever.
That is encouraging for the Blue Waves, who lost three quality guards from last season. Lamb’s son, Elwood Lamb III, as well as Ben Edmund and Rodney Rollins have graduated.
The younger Lamb left open the point guard position, which Ryan Bitzer and Quinn Funn have been sharing this summer. Coach Lamb envisions Moore being used more as a shooting guard or even a small forward.
One thing is for sure: Moore is taking preparations for the 2011-12 school season seriously. He has been doing speed training, lifting weights and working on his jump shot. “I go hard, man,” he said. “I’m ready to go.”
The results show. His 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame looks fit.
Moore’s quickness on the court is an undoubted asset, as is his commitment to defense and communication on defense.
“I’m like the energy guy,” he said. “I talk it up. Defense is the main thing to me in basketball. That’s what wins games.”
A typical example of what Moore can do with his speed was seen Tuesday night. He made a game-high seven steals to go with 14 points and three assists in a 45-40 win over the Sachem North Flaming Arrows in a Town of Brookhaven Summer League game at Riverhead High School.
“Reggie was an animal tonight,” Bitzer, who turned in a game-high 18 points, said after game.
Coach Lamb was impressed by what he saw from Moore. “He looked good tonight,” Lamb said. “Seven steals, that’s pretty impressive. If he sees the ball in his lane, he’s going to try and get it.”
Moore was also whistled for four personal fouls. That comes with the aggression package.
“I would say Reggie has improved from last year to now,” Lamb said. “He’s more aggressive. He’s looking to put the ball on the floor and go to the basket more. Sometimes he gets a little too aggressive. He commits those stupid fouls.”
Moore said he has spent time on his shooting, which he has more confidence in. All in all, he is anticipating a fruitful senior season.
“I feel that I got smarter on the basketball court,” he said. “I developed more of an offensive game than I had last year. It’s going to be very interesting to see what we do this year, very interesting.”
Lamb said, “I think he’s a better defender than he is an offensive player, but his offense is starting to look a lot better than it did last year.”
Another encouraging sign for the Blue Waves (5-2) was that they won Tuesday’s game in large part by taking care of the ball. They turned it over 10 times to Sachem North’s 22. That helped Riverhead prevail despite being outrebounded by 24-12.
Riverhead fell behind only once at 35-33 on a basket by Brendan Chetuck, but soon took the lead again on one of Bitzer’s two three-point shots.
Still, Sachem North (3-4) stayed close. After a baseline move by Chetuck resulted in a layup, cutting Riverhead’s lead to 42-40, Bitzer hit two free throws and Tim Clement sank another for the final five-point margin.
In the game’s closing moments, Bitzer blocked a shot by Jayson Prudente (13 points) and Riverhead’s Markim Austin dribbled out the final seconds.
Sachem North lost one of its players, Zach Dellecave, who appeared to have injured his left knee and was helped off the court 3 minutes 15 seconds into the contest. He later walked out of the gym under his own power.
Strangely enough, two Riverhead players fell at virtually the same place on the court. Riverhead’s Jake Maccagli and Clement apparently collided and both went down. They had to be helped to the team bench. Clement returned to the game shortly after, but Maccagli did not. The extent of his injury was not immediately known.
In the end, the Blue Waves got the result they were looking for, and Moore looked happy.
“I don’t like to lose,” he said, smiling. “I like to win.”
