Jeremiah Cheatom and the Waves rode a 20-0 third-quarter run to a blowout win over West Islip Tuesday night, 71-37.
An eight-game winning streak rose Riverhead (7-2 league, 10-3 overall) to the top of Division III. Then came two consecutive losses — both by single digits.
Luckily, the next scheduled opponent was hapless West Islip (0-9 league, 0-13 overall) at home on Tuesday. But even though the final score was 71-37, it wasn’t exactly a blowout the entire game. In fact, West Islip went into halftime down by only one point.
“In the first half the intensity wasn’t where it needed to be,” said Riverhead coach John Rossetti. “We came out flat.”
West Islip connected on five three-pointers in the first half accounting for 15 of their 28 points. In the second half, West Islip lost its touch from beyond the arc.
“In the second half, we came out and did what we needed to do.” said Rossetti.
That’s one way of putting it.
Riverhead held West Islip to just two points in the third quarter.
The Blue Waves started the third quarter on a 20-0 run led by junior Jeremiah Cheatom.
Cheatom scored a game-high 17 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds and 3 steals.
“He’s a workhorse,” Rossetti said. “He is 6’1 but he plays like he is 6’6.”
Cheatom brought the fans to their feet in the third. Following an impressive poke-away steal that left him with a free lane to the basket, Cheatom rose up and capped off his night with a spectacular dunk.
“It’s high school basketball,” Rosetti said. “Anyone is capable of winning on any given night.”
Notable stats:
Brandon Tolliver – 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks
Ryan Bitzer – 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals
Markim Austin – 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks
Coming up:
Away game at East Islip (6-3, 9-4) Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
Click thumbnails to enlarge images
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