Boys basketball
Riverhead will have to wait another day to clinch playoff berth

 A win last night would have clinched a playoff berth, but the Blue Waves will have to wait another day.

Riverhead hosted Huntington on Thursday in a matchup of the second and third place teams in League III. The Blue Waves came out scorching hot on defense, forcing turnovers and keeping the Blue Devils to only eight points in the first quarter while capitalizing with easy buckets on the other end.

The Blue Waves would lead 20-8 before Huntington (6-3 League III, 6-7 overall) ripped off a 17-2 run to take the lead going into halftime.

“We had a strong first quarter and then kind of fell apart,” Riverhead head coach John Rossetti said.

Riverhead (6-3 League III, 7-6 overall) just couldn’t recover. Though a strong third quarter put them within three points, a fourth quarter flooded with three-point baskets thanks in large part to Huntington’s Kevin Lawrence, extended the lead to double digits and beyond.

Lawrence led the Blue Devils to a 63-51 victory, contributing a team-high 19 points.

“They were hitting three point balls all over the court,” Rossetti said. “There’s no defense to stop a three pointer five feet behind the line.”

The star player Kenny Charles was held in check most of the game as he was called for three quick fouls in the first quarter, but that didn’t stop Huntington from getting what they wanted: revenge.

Tyrese Kerr was nonexistent on the offensive side of the ball prompting questions as to whether he should have gotten the ball more. He scored a season-low three points.

“There’s no question we need to get the ball to Tyrese,” Rossetti said. “Kudos to them for playing great defense.”

Lintell Brown and Sharron Trent led the Blue Waves with 16 points a piece. Malik Washington added 11.

The Blue Waves playoff clincher will have to wait another day. They’ll travel to North Babylon on Tuesday for a 4 p.m tip.