Girls Basketball: Riverhead can’t overcome rough patches

The Riverhead Blue Waves could not overcome slow starts in the second and third quarters and suffered a 69-57 defeat to Bay Shore in a Suffolk County League II girls basketball game Monday night at Ralph Elliott Gymnasium in Bay Shore.

Riverhead (3-5, 0-3) took a 16-15 edge into the second period before the Marauders scored 10 consecutive points to grab a 25-16 advantage with five minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the quarter. Bay Shore never trailed after that. Senior Keonjah Nugent (17 points) and sophomore Majegane Barry (six points) led the way for Bay Shore with four points each during that 10-0 spurt.

History repeated itself early in the second half.

After whittling the deficit down to 36-34 at the half, the Blue Waves allowed Bay Shore (7-2, 2-1)  to go on a 13-2 roll to secure a 49-38 lead with 2:28 left in the third quarter. Nugent and senior guard Victoria Pearce paced the surge with four and three points, respectively.

Pearce kept the Marauders in the game by scoring 12 of her game-high 25 points in the opening quarter.

Junior guard Kim Ligon paced Riverhead with 15 points and junior guard Faith Johnson-DeSilvia pumped in 12 points. Sophomore guard Angie Graziano, who made her first varsity start, added 12 points, including two three-pointers.

The Blue Waves played without head coach David Spinella and senior guard Mary Reiter (9.0 points per game average) due to the flu. Assistant coaches Paul Bertram and former Riverhead standout Jalyn Brown guided the team.