Both of Riverhead's varsity basketball teams notched wins against North Babylon Saturday afternoon.
The boys snatched a crucial victory from the Bulldogs in the last seconds of the game in North Babylon, 51-49 on a game-ending bucket by Ryan Bitzer, following a five-second turnover credited to the defensive play of Quinn Funn.
Bitzer led the Waves with a game-high 17 points. The Waves improved to 4-4 in League III and cut their magic number for a playoff berth down to two.
The girls continue to dominate in League III, cruising to a 58-45 victory over the Bulldogs in Riverhead, improving their League III record to 8-0 (13-1 overall). Shanice Allen led the Waves with 23 points. It was Coach Dave Spinella's 100th Blue Waves victory. SEE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
The boys have four chances remaining in regular season play to put two more games in the "V" column and qualify for the playoffs. They play two of those games this week:
The Newfield Wolverines (1-6) come to town on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.
Then the Waves travel to Smithtown East Thursday at 4 p.m. for a second shot at the league-leading Bulls (6-2). Riverhead handed Smithtown East one of its two losses this season, defeating them on the Waves' home court 65-63 Jan. 10.
The girls visit Newfield on Tuesday for a 5:45 start against the Wolverines (0-7).
RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella. To order prints, please contact the photographer directly. Click here to send him an email.
Editor's note & correction: A previously published version of this story inaccurately reported the League III record of the Newfield Wolverines as 1-7; their record stood at 1-6 as of the date of publication.