Girls basketball
Riverhead wins big over Smithtown East, looks to finish season strong

Riverhead added another victory to their playoff resumè Friday night at Smithtown East High School.

Out in transition most of the game, Riverhead (10-1 League III, 12-3 overall) kept the pace to their liking and scored points in the paint whenever they got the chance thanks to the towering duo of Sam Dunn and Dezarae Brown.

Brown and Dunn dominated underneath the basket with both players bringing down a team-high 18 rebounds. Many of the offensive rebounds resulted in quick putbacks as the Bulls had no answer for their size.

Dunn led the team in scoring with 20 points and Brown wasn’t far behind with 19. The two seniors showed exactly what they could do when given the chance.

Kate McCarney connected on a few threes herself, adding 11 points to the mix.

As Riverhead prepares for the final stretch of the season, head coach Dave Spinella isn’t worrying about what seed his team will get.

“We need to finish out this season first,” Spinella said. “That’s the most important thing. We can’t worry about what our seeding will be until the season’s over.”

As of now, the Blue Waves are tied for first with Huntington in League III after losing to them last week. Winning the rest of the league games will at least give them a share of the league title.

So as it stands, Riverhead controls its own destiny.

“Twelve more quarters,” Spinella said. “Then we can talk about the playoffs.”

Riverhead travels to Smithtown West on Tuesday.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella.