Boys basketball: Riverhead defeats Newfield in final seconds, 55-54

There’s only one word to describe the Blue Waves on Monday night — clutch. With Newfield in town, the league opener was expected to be close and it lived up to expectations.

Riverhead (1-0) started the season off with a bang, beating the Wolverines, 55-54.

Two minutes remained in the game and the Blue Waves were down by six points, 52-46. As Riverhead moved the ball around the perimeter, the Wolverine defense stayed strong. An entry pass to a dominating Ethan Greenidge, who had already scored 17 points in the game, wasn’t available. So with seconds left to shoot on the shot clock, Sharron Trent got the ball and let it go from beyond the arc.

A shot that looked to be off the mark, bounced off the backboard and fell in the basket. The shot brought the Blue Waves to within three and head coach John Rossetti immediately called timeout.

“I feel like I’m better at driving to the rack to be honest,” Trent said.

But the situation called for a three and Trent answered the bell.

“I saw the score and I knew we really needed the basket,” Trent said, who tallied 17 points. “Thank God it went in.”

Rossetti always saves his timeouts for the end of the game because of situations like this.

“Sometimes you get so excited about scoring that you forget to get back on defense,” Rossetti said. “So I rather them settle down and regroup so we could play sound defense.”

It worked.

After a solid defensive effort, Malik Washington was fouled and with both teams in the double bonus, he went to the line and sunk both free throws.

“Had to come up big in that moment,” Washington said. “Had to.”

But even so, the Blue Waves were still down by one point. On the following possession the defense came up big again to force the Wolverines into a turnover which then started a fast break. The ball ended up in the hands of captain Tyrese Kerr, who drove to the lane and trampled over a player in the process, earning a trip to the line after the blocking foul.

Two free throws would put the Blue Waves ahead. He sunk both.

“If I want to be a big name on this team, I have to come up big,” Kerr said, who finished with 12 rebounds and eight points. “It was time to come up big. After making the first shot, all I wanted to do is make the second and go back on defense.”

“Tyrese is a workhorse,” Rossetti said. “He’s always the sweatiest kid in the gym and one of our hardest workers, that’s why he’s our captain. He’s the type of kid that I’m proud of that he had that moment to give us the lead because he deserves it.”

With less than a minute left, the Blue Waves were ahead 53-52 and Newfield brought the ball up the court. The ball was driven down the baseline and although Greenidge stood with his hands straight up, without moving his feet, he was called for the foul to send Newfield to the line. The crowd went wild. Everyone jumped to their feet to protest the call but nothing changed.

There’s a saying in basketball: “The ball don’t lie.”

Newfield (0-1) got away with a call but then subsequently missed both free throws. Kerr came away with the rebound. There was still 39 seconds left on the clock so the Wolverines didn’t foul. The Blue Waves wasted the entire shot clock and Trent shot a three-pointer with one second left. The ball hit off the rim and landed in the hands of Greenidge, who put the ball in the basket to seal the game.

“I knew I was getting that ball no matter what,” Greenidge said, who finished with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. “All I had to do was to put it in the basket.”

Riverhead will play Half Hollow Hills West next. The game is scheduled for this Thursday in Riverhead at 4 p.m.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella