Bulls stampede in league opener, 64-33

Well, that was one to forget.

Riverhead was trounced by Smithtown West to open the league season Thursday in embarrassing fashion by the score of 64-33. The defense was poor, execution was off, and no shot was finding the bottom of the net. Defensive rotations were slow and offensively, the fluidity was nonexistent.

To summarize it in a few words, head coach John Rossetti said, “It was ugly tonight.”

It all amounted to a devastating defeat – and nothing stings more than a loss on your home court.

“There was a lack of energy and a lack of enthusiasm today,” Rossetti said. “We came out very flat. You could feel it in the gym, there was like a flat feel to it today.”

And when a flat team starts to fall behind, chances of coming back are little to none. Though Riverhead (0-1 League III, 1-1 overall) played hard to the finish, one Smithtown Bulls player made sure that any comeback attempt would remain just that – an attempt.

Nicholas Paquette was, you could say, unstoppable. The ball always seemed to find his hands with space to shoot. All it took was one quick pump fake to send a Blue Wave defender into the air and the ball was out of his hands and through the hoop. Paquette connected on six three-pointers, missing just one shot from beyond the arc. He finished the game with 27 points, nearly outscoring the Blue Waves himself.

Rossetti tried just about every defense but a double team on Paquette to slow him down.

“We went man, we went zone, we did a little triangle too but to their credit, they were just knocking down jump shots,” Rossetti said.

And when they did key on him, it only made matters worse.

“It wasn’t just him hitting the shots,” Rossetti said. “They had a few guys who could hit the three. So if you key on one, it leaves another person open and then they hit the shot.”

Last year’s Smithtown West team was pretty much a mirror image of this one. The ball was consistently swung around the perimeter until they found an open shooter. And they never missed open shots. The only way to stop them would be to stay disciplined on defense; stay on your feet and stay in their face. Without a cohesive defense, offense is that much more difficult. Riverhead rarely got into their usual transition fast-break offense because they couldn’t force many turnovers on defense. But it’s still early in the season. And the Blue Waves will get their chance at revenge in Smithtown later in the season.

But now, they have to turn their focus to the next game. The Blue Waves are at home again to face North Babylon on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are the team to beat this year in League III, Rossetti said.

“They’re the cream of the crop,” he said. “They’re quick. They have good guard play. They are a bigger version of us so we’re going to have to come out and play with a lot of energy.”

Senior Brandon Tolliver scored 10 points and sophomore Charles Manning scored nine.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella

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