Penfield Beats Riverhead in Class AA Semifinal (Riverhead news)
Penfield Beats Riverhead in Class AA Semifinal
by Pete Beyer (from Riverhead news)
The Lady Patriots of Penfield beat the Riverhead Blue Waves, 67-49, in the NYSPHSAA Class AA girls' basketball semifinal last Friday. At Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, before hundreds of very vocal and very visible faithful from both ends of the state, the then-unbeaten Patriots raced to their twenty-fourth win of the season. The Long Island champion Blue Waves suffered just their second loss in twenty-five contests.
Using a height advantage at every position, the Section V-champion Patriots outscored the Blue Waves in every quarter and never let the backcourt duo of Jalyn Brown and Shanice Allen get going. The Blue Waves' total of 49 points was their lowest since they beat Whitman, 48-39, in a non-league contest in Huntington on December 29.
"We scouted Riverhead as well as we scouted any team in our league," said Patriot coach Mark Vogt. "We saw four full games on MSG and we saw interviews with their coaches and players. We knew their guards had explosive speed, so when they had the ball, we went to a triangle-and-two on each of them."
When either guard got into the paint, she had to contend with 5-11 Margot Hetzke, the Section V MVP, as well as 5-7 guards Sheila Nesselbush and and Megan Malloy, and 5-10 guards Lucy Covley and Michelle Nesselbush, all of them long-armed and nimble.
Against Brown and Allen, the highest scoring twosome in Riverhead backcourt history (2000-plus career points), the Patriot defensive scheme worked. In the first half Brown and Allen combined for just six points.
The formula that made magic for Riverhead all season -- let the defense generate the offense -- just wasn't working against Penfield. When Brown or Allen tried to strip the ball away, they were charged with reach-in fouls.
"Megan [Malloy] knows how to protect the ball without moving back or sideways," said Vogt about his point guard, his only holdover from the 2009 sectional championship team. "She's protecting the ball and still moving forward. We knew that once we got past the first defense, there'd be a shot open."
Minutes before the half, the Patriots enjoyed a lead of 29-12. Blue Waves forward Melodee Riley scored three consecutive baskets to close the gap to eleven points, but Hetzke sank a pair of free throws to set the score at 31-18 entering the break.
Unable to penetrate, the Blue Waves tried to score from long range. They sank just one of thirteen attempts in the first half.
Penfield opened the third quarter with a 9-6 run, but Kaila Nazario sparked the Riverhead crowd with a pair of three-pointers. Penfield took the fans out of it right away, responding to each of Nazario's shots with a quick basket.
"The best way to stop a run by the other team is to score a basket, stay aggressive," said Vogt. "We keep attacking, even with leads. Scoring a quick basket like that is a momentum changer -- like a dunk."
Pushing the ball upcourt and distributing it effectively, the Patriots built a 24-point lead midway through the final quarter. Hetzke was a force, scoring inside with moves to the left and right, hitting from outside and driving to the basket.
"She's only a sophomore, but she's already scored over 1,000 points," said Vogt. "Two years ago teams began to collapse on her so she started working on her perimeter game. She's already got school scoring records for a single game and a season. She's even got the record for taking charges -- twenty of them this year. The best before her was eight in a season."
Though trailing by the largest margins of their season, the Blue Waves kept playing hard -- diving for balls, pressing on defense, making sharp passes, driving to the basket, and drawing fouls.
In their final appearances for Riverhead, Riley finished with 18 points, Nazario with 13, Brown with 11, and Marta Czaplak with two. Aly Doscinski and Mariah Messina will also graduate in June. They were all members of the most successful girls' basketball team in Riverhead history -- 23 consecutive wins, league, sectional, and Long Island titles, and a place in the final four of the NYSPHSAA tournament. Coach Dave Spinella reached a milestone 100th career win. Guards Brown and Allen each passed the 1,000-career-point mark.
They inspired civic pride. As the contest ended at Hudson Valley, fans gathered behind the bench, letting the ladies know they should "keep your head up -- you did us proud -- great game, great season."
"That's the best of high school basketball," said Penfield's Vogt. "That's the way it should be. That's what you like to see."
In the Class AA championship contest on Saturday, Vogt and the Lady Patriots lost, 62-48, to the top-ranked Cicero-North Syracuse NorthStars, led by Gatorade Player of the Year Breanna Stewart, who's headed for UConn.
by Pete Beyer (from Riverhead news)
The Lady Patriots of Penfield beat the Riverhead Blue Waves, 67-49, in the NYSPHSAA Class AA girls' basketball semifinal last Friday. At Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, before hundreds of very vocal and very visible faithful from both ends of the state, the then-unbeaten Patriots raced to their twenty-fourth win of the season. The Long Island champion Blue Waves suffered just their second loss in twenty-five contests.
Using a height advantage at every position, the Section V-champion Patriots outscored the Blue Waves in every quarter and never let the backcourt duo of Jalyn Brown and Shanice Allen get going. The Blue Waves' total of 49 points was their lowest since they beat Whitman, 48-39, in a non-league contest in Huntington on December 29.
"We scouted Riverhead as well as we scouted any team in our league," said Patriot coach Mark Vogt. "We saw four full games on MSG and we saw interviews with their coaches and players. We knew their guards had explosive speed, so when they had the ball, we went to a triangle-and-two on each of them."
When either guard got into the paint, she had to contend with 5-11 Margot Hetzke, the Section V MVP, as well as 5-7 guards Sheila Nesselbush and and Megan Malloy, and 5-10 guards Lucy Covley and Michelle Nesselbush, all of them long-armed and nimble.
Against Brown and Allen, the highest scoring twosome in Riverhead backcourt history (2000-plus career points), the Patriot defensive scheme worked. In the first half Brown and Allen combined for just six points.
The formula that made magic for Riverhead all season -- let the defense generate the offense -- just wasn't working against Penfield. When Brown or Allen tried to strip the ball away, they were charged with reach-in fouls.
"Megan [Malloy] knows how to protect the ball without moving back or sideways," said Vogt about his point guard, his only holdover from the 2009 sectional championship team. "She's protecting the ball and still moving forward. We knew that once we got past the first defense, there'd be a shot open."
Minutes before the half, the Patriots enjoyed a lead of 29-12. Blue Waves forward Melodee Riley scored three consecutive baskets to close the gap to eleven points, but Hetzke sank a pair of free throws to set the score at 31-18 entering the break.
Unable to penetrate, the Blue Waves tried to score from long range. They sank just one of thirteen attempts in the first half.
Penfield opened the third quarter with a 9-6 run, but Kaila Nazario sparked the Riverhead crowd with a pair of three-pointers. Penfield took the fans out of it right away, responding to each of Nazario's shots with a quick basket.
"The best way to stop a run by the other team is to score a basket, stay aggressive," said Vogt. "We keep attacking, even with leads. Scoring a quick basket like that is a momentum changer -- like a dunk."
Pushing the ball upcourt and distributing it effectively, the Patriots built a 24-point lead midway through the final quarter. Hetzke was a force, scoring inside with moves to the left and right, hitting from outside and driving to the basket.
"She's only a sophomore, but she's already scored over 1,000 points," said Vogt. "Two years ago teams began to collapse on her so she started working on her perimeter game. She's already got school scoring records for a single game and a season. She's even got the record for taking charges -- twenty of them this year. The best before her was eight in a season."
Though trailing by the largest margins of their season, the Blue Waves kept playing hard -- diving for balls, pressing on defense, making sharp passes, driving to the basket, and drawing fouls.
In their final appearances for Riverhead, Riley finished with 18 points, Nazario with 13, Brown with 11, and Marta Czaplak with two. Aly Doscinski and Mariah Messina will also graduate in June. They were all members of the most successful girls' basketball team in Riverhead history -- 23 consecutive wins, league, sectional, and Long Island titles, and a place in the final four of the NYSPHSAA tournament. Coach Dave Spinella reached a milestone 100th career win. Guards Brown and Allen each passed the 1,000-career-point mark.
They inspired civic pride. As the contest ended at Hudson Valley, fans gathered behind the bench, letting the ladies know they should "keep your head up -- you did us proud -- great game, great season."
"That's the best of high school basketball," said Penfield's Vogt. "That's the way it should be. That's what you like to see."
In the Class AA championship contest on Saturday, Vogt and the Lady Patriots lost, 62-48, to the top-ranked Cicero-North Syracuse NorthStars, led by Gatorade Player of the Year Breanna Stewart, who's headed for UConn.
