Girls Basketball: Riley’s 28 points lead Blue Waves to county final

SUFFOLK CLASS AA SEMIFINAL | BLUE WAVES 66, BULLDOGS 51

Senior forward Melodee Riley scored 9 of her game-high 28 points during a 5-minute 32-second span in the fourth quarter and added 9 rebounds to lead Riverhead to a 66-51 victory over Lindenhurst in a Suffolk County Class AA girls basketball semifinal at Farmingdale State College on Saturday.

The third-seeded Blue Waves (20-1), who recorded their 20th consecutive win, will play Hauppauge in the final at Farmingdale at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Fourth-seeded Hauppauge (21-0) defeated No. 1 Sachem East (19-2), 47-45, in the other semifinal, the first game of the doubleheader.

Riverhead will play for its second county title in history and first in nearly three decades.

“We haven’t done anything yet,” Riverhead coach David Spinella said. “We have one to go.”

Junior guard Shanice Allen finished with 16 points and 8 steals and senior guard Jalyn Brown, who was forced to the bench temporarily when she incurred her fourth foul with 5:28 remaining in the game, contributed 14 points and 9 assists.

Lindenhurst (19-2) cut the Blue Waves’ lead to 54-48 with 3:16 remaining in the game. Brown’s driving basket started a 17-3 run that closed out the game.

Junior guard Valerie Oyakhilome, who scored a career-high 36 points in a 71-51 quarterfinal win over Northport on Wednesday, was held to 17 points.

Spinella said he wasn’t surprised Hauppauge won “because they have the tools. They’re very good and very dangerous.”

“They are very, very quick,” he added. “They are one of the few teams in the county that can match our quickness. They play a very, very good zone. And they have a bunch of shooters all over the floor, so its going to be tough. We have another challenge ahead of us. They’re a very good basketball team.”