Searl shines for Mattituck in boys hoops regular season finale

Owen Searl had an inkling early on in Thursday’s game that this was going to be his night.

Only 50 seconds into Mattituck’s 76-48 home victory over Port Jefferson, he sank a 12-foot jump shot.

Thirty-six seconds later, he put away a three-pointer. And then another, and another and a fourth by the end of the quarter.

“I feel those first couple three pointers go down, I’m going to keep shooting,” the senior guard said. “I know I’m going to have a good night.”

A good night? Make that a great night.

Searl put on a show and a half with a signature 43-point performance in the Suffolk County League VII game.

“Owen just carried us,” head coach Paul Ellwood said. “He was unbelievable.”

“It was amazing,” junior forward Tyler Brown said.

Those 43 points were a career high for the 6-foot Searl, who is averaging 16.2 points a game on the season. His previous best was a 25-point effort in a 65-49 win over Babylon on Jan. 21.

It was not immediately known whether Searl had set a Mattituck school record. Ellwood recalled Xavier Allen connecting for 41 points in 2020 as the highest total in his 25-year coaching career at the school.

“Forty-three is insane,” he said.

Searl wasn’t shooting just from downtown (six treys). He added several drives to the basket and a short jumper from his outstanding repertoire. He also canned 8-of-12 free throw attempts and collected four steals.

“I’ve got confidence in myself to score on all three levels,” he said.

“Sometimes we’ll show up early to practice, play by ourselves,” Brown said. “He’s just shooting, playing his game, not trying to go structured-wise, more just like freestyle. I think that’s what he did today. It paid off.”

Searl tallied 17 in the first period, 4 in the second, 20 in the third and 2 in the fourth, before Ellwood pulled him with 3:24 remaining in the game.

“I’m not surprised,” Royals head coach Peter Meehan said.” He’s a good player. He’s a smart player. He’s a tough kid, and he’s a great kid. It wasn’t like we didn’t know who he was, or we weren’t trying to guard him. We’ll keep him on the list for the next time we play.”

Searl was far from a one-man show. The 6-5 Brown displayed a soft, effective hook shot that translated into many of his 14 points. He added seven rebounds.

“Tyler had a nice game inside,” Ellwood said. “He’s been coming along with that little hook. The last time we played them, they blocked a lot of our shots. That [hook] shot’s unblockable. It’s a good weapon to have.”

Ben Amadio led Port Jefferson with 15 points.

On Senior Night, Ellwood started all his 12th-graders — Andrew McKenzie, Justin Fox, Shane Psaltis, Brett Kiely and Searl.

Mattituck enjoyed a 34-28 halftime lead before breaking away behind a 19-0 tear to start the third quarter. Searl scored all but two of those points, with Fox connecting for a basket the break. The Tuckers enjoyed as much as a 33-point lead.

Mattituck and (8-9, 6-6) and Royals (6-13, 3-9) will meet in the Class B final at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue on Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m. Mattituck won the season series after recording a 44-41 triumph at Port Jefferson on Jan. 14. The Royals needed to post at least a .500 record against other Class B teams to reach the playoffs (3-3).

“I don’t think the score is indicative of the separation between the teams,” Ellwood said. “I don’t think we’re at plus-30 points or whatever. Our championship game is going to be more like the way the first half was, closely contested. Their kids can make shots. They’re going to come in with a game plan to stop Owen. We have to be ready for that.”

Searl agreed.

“It doesn’t matter how many times we beat them during the regular season,” he said. “The playoffs are a whole different game.”

Until the final, both teams will have 24 days off. The challenge will be to find teams to scrimmage.

“I want to try and get two scrimmages a week to keep it like a regular game schedule,” Ellwood said. “You get two scrimmages in a week, we’ll be fine. Fortunately, there’s other teams in the same boat as us. Everybody else is looking for scrimmages.”