Blue Waves basketball alumni shoot hoops for three good causes

The Riverhead Boys Basketball Booster Club held the First Annual Alumni Basketball game yesterday at Riverhead High School.

Blue Waves alumni of all ages took the court to strut their stuff. Shot contests helped raise money for three worthy causes: the booster club, the DQH Scholarship Fund and The Brendan House being built by New Beginnings Community Center.

The DQH Scholarship Fund is a scholarship established in memory of Demitri Hampton, a 2010 Riverhead High School graduate who was killed while fending off intruders during a January 2013 home invasion in Flanders. He was 21 years old and in his last semester at Suffolk County Community College, where he was completing his associate’s degree in criminal justice. Hampton’s mother, Juanita Trent, was at yesterday’s game to cheer on her son’s former classmates and accept a donation on behalf of the scholarship fund, which supports Riverhead students attending the community college.

Also on hand were Michael Hubbard (RHS Class of 2014) and his mother Nancy Reyer. Hubbard, 18, was severely burned by an exploding citronella fuel pot in May 2011 and suffered brain injury in the cardiac arrest caused by his burns. Hubbard will be one of several residents in The Brendan House group home for brain injury survivors currently being build by New Beginnings in Riverhead.

Yesterday’s game raised $3,500, organizers said. Half the proceeds will go to the booster club, which supports the boys basketball team and its members. The other half will be evenly divided between the DQH Scholarship Fund and New Beginnings.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.