Riley's 28 helps Riverhead girls advance
Riverhead's Melodee Riley (5) with the outside jumper in the second half. Riverhead defeated Lindenhurst 66-51. (Feb. 25, 2012) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
If Riverhead was going to beat Lindenhurst and advance to the Class AA girls championship game, the Blue Waves were going to have to be fast, think fast and, most of all, react fast.
Check, check and check.
Be fast: Melodee Riley, the University of Connecticut-bound track star who scored a career-high 28 points to help defeat the Bulldogs, 66-51, Saturday in the Class AA semifinal at Farmingdale State.
Think fast: Jalyn Brown, she of the ankle-breaking crossovers, the quick dishes to her teammates, and the nine assists that helped pace No. 3 Riverhead (20-1) to a final showdown against fourth-seeded Hauppauge this coming Tuesday.
React fast: Shanice Allen, who hoisted a 25-foot, buzzer-beating desperation three to knock down the surging Bulldogs at the end of the first quarter, and came back to deliver another brutal blow -- a layup off a steal -- with 2:04 left to play to open up a four-point lead. Her eight steals were instrumental in Riverhead's breathless, 32-minute, quick-paced defensive onslaught. She added 16 points.
"We had to step up the defense and use our speed," said Brown, who finished with 14 points. "We saw they were tired and our best offense is our speed."
"Run and gun," said Allen, simply.
Lindenhurst (19-2) never led, drawing to within 19-18 on Randy Zom's three-point play with 18 seconds left in the first quarter before Riverhead opened up a 24-18 lead on Tonilin Ruisi's short jumper and Allen's demoralizing long-range trey. The Bulldogs shot 5-for-16 in the second quarter and trailed 37-27 at the half before making up ground in a 12-8 third.
Sammy Martinez's two foul shots and Colleen Ames' layup with 3:17 to play brought the Bulldogs to within 52-48, but the Blue Waves embarked on a two-minute, 12 second, 14-0 run to seal the game. The span featured back-to-back-to-back converted steals, two by Riley and one by Allen.
"In practice, we're always running up and down the court," Riley said. "We do foul shots and every time we miss, we're running up and down the court."
Coach David Spinella conceded that the "practices are harder than the games . . . but we have girls that are willing to put in the work."
It paid dividends when the Blue Waves, who Allen admitted were "a little winded" in the third quarter, seemed to catch a second breath in the fourth. "When we saw there were only four minutes left, we left it all out there."
Valerie Oyakhilome, who, averages 18.6 points per game in the regular season, the fourth-highest scorer in Suffolk, finished with a team-high 17 points. Kaila-Riane Nazario led Riverhead with 11 rebounds, while Riley added nine.
"We stuck it out," Riley said. "I didn't even know . It's awesome."
A win against Hauppauge will be the first county championship since their lone title in 1984. It's something many of the girls are aware of, and something they're clamoring for.
"In that situation, every basket is a killer basket," said Allen of her big shots. When she hit the three, she pumped both fists.
"It was good," she said. "It was good, good."
