Blue Waves get off to strong start despite loss

After winning just one game last year, Riverhead trained relentlessly in preparation for this season, placing a major emphasis on defense. This year’s team is made up of true multi-sport athletes and there’s one common denominator in most of those sports.

“They all play defense,” said Riverhead head coach Cherese Foster. “It’s not something entirely new that we have to teach. All these girls play defense in their other sports and it’s something they’re really good at. With our athleticism this year, our defense has to be our best offense.”

That defense was put on full display in Riverhead’s first two games of the season — non-league contests against Mattituck and Wyandanch. The Blue Waves held Mattituck to 39 points and then bested that effort with only 21 points allowed against Wyandanch. The best part of the season’s first two games was that both ended in victory. Just two games into the new season, Riverhead has already doubled their win total from last year.

“Those two wins motivated the team to want more,” Foster said. “It proved that our defense can win games. We don’t have to be the best scoring team to win.”

Riverhead opened its league season Tuesday against Patchogue-Medford, a team that made the playoffs and finished with a 16-6 record last season. They also returned their best player in Diamond Pertillar. If last year’s record was any indication of how the game would go, Riverhead would have had no shot.

Though Patchogue-Medford (3-1) ended up winning 51-31 at Riverhead High School, the game was super competitive until a lopsided third quarter. Ultimately, Pertillar found a way to take over the game. The senior scored 23 points and hit two monster threes in that third quarter to pull her team away. Riverhead (2-1) actually outscored the Raiders 10-6 in the second quarter, which brought the Blue Waves within four points late in the first half — something last year’s team could never have done. Their improvement is apparent. 

“In that second quarter we showed what we can do,” Foster said. “We started gelling as a team and understanding the importance of boxing out and taking away their best player. We showed that even against a top team in the division, if we do what we have to do on defense, we will be in the game.”

Riverhead’s biggest question mark is who is going to carry the scoring load this year. With no clear top offensive option, the Blue Waves will have to rely on team basketball and try to find the open shooter to achieve success. Against Mattituck, Claire Normoyle led the team with 17 points. Kyleigh Lennon then set the pace with 12 points against Wyandanch. On Tuesday, Adriana Martinez led the squad with nine points.

There were definitely flashes of offensive success against Patchogue-Medford, whether it was Normoyle shooting three-pointers or Logan Pilon finding space and pulling up from mid-range. Martinez got through to the paint on numerous occasions for tough layups. Patchogue-Medford employed a lot of full-court pressure, which caused some friction in the Blue Wave offense. 

“We really don’t have that number one scorer that we can always look to for a bucket,” Foster said. “We’ll have different scorers every night. It’s just going to be how the game shakes out. One game it could be Claire [Normoyle] and the next game it could be Logan [Pilon]. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.”

With two wins already under their belt, optimism is growing within the basketball program. Riverhead will travel to William Floyd (4-1) Thursday for a matchup against another League I powerhouse. 

“We’re going to win more games this year,” Foster said. “And it’s going to be by playing defense and leaning on each other. The closer we get as a team, the better our results will show.”