Top Sports Stories 2018: Dwyer leaves mark on Mattituck
It’s safe to say that Liz Dwyer made her mark on the Mattituck High School girls basketball team. And while Dwyer’s senior tour last season didn’t end up exactly where she wanted, she and her teammates did pretty well for themselves.
After winning third straight league and Long Island championships, the Tuckers fell one win short in their bid for a third straight appearance in a regional final. Dwyer was held to four points and Mattituck to a season-low total in its 45-26 loss to Carle Place in a Long Island Class B final at Half Hollow Hills West High School. Mattituck had defeated the Frogs in the previous two Long Island finals.
It had to end sometime for Dwyer, Mattituck’s all-time leading scorer who in five varsity seasons amassed 1,821 points. The 5-9 forward averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.1 blocks per game last season. She made the All-State Class B third team and was named The Suffolk Times’ Female Athlete of the Year for Mattituck.
“She has made an impact on this team, on everybody,” coach Steve Van Dood said. “That’s Lizzie Dwyer.”
Mattituck enjoyed great success with Dwyer. In her last three seasons, she helped the team go 59-11. Last season the team went 19-4.
Dwyer scored 18 points in a 50-34 defeat of Babylon in the Suffolk County final at Suffolk County Community College in Selden. Previously, Mattituck secured its seventh league title.
“It’s unbelievable to say that we did that,” said Chelsea Marlborough, who was part of Mattituck’s all-senior starting lineup along with Alex Beebe, Mackenzie Daly, Jane DiGregorio and Dwyer.
After it all ended, Dwyer was able to put things in perspective.
“We probably had one of the best runs Mattituck girls basketball” has ever had, she said. “It’s bittersweet because I’ve been with some of these girls for five years, four years now, so it’s sad to see it come to an end, but if I had to end a season … I’d want to do it with this group of girls.”
Photo caption: Liz Dwyer led Mattituck to a county championship. (Credit: Garret Meade)