Don’t overlook the Mattituck boys’ basketball team this season

Memo to opponents of the Mattituck High School boys basketball team:

Don’t get too overconfident, thinking that the Tuckers have an inexperienced squad because they have many sophomores as starters.

Connor Searl, Antonio Sparacio and Oakley Carr-Smith might be young, but they are battle-tested, helping Mattituck (9-10, 6-6) soar to surprising heights.

“Last year we came in with zero experience,” head coach Paul Ellwood said. “This year we return with a lot of experience. On paper, we might look young with a lot of sophomores, but they have a year’s experience playing varsity games and making a run to the Long Island championship game. I don’t consider them sophomores. I consider them basically with a year and a half experience.”

Searl understood that the sophomores need to come through.

“It’s on us to pick up the little things that they [graduated Mattituck players] did, the intensity and that they brought,” he said. “If we can each bring a separate part of them to our game, I think we can replace what they did.”

Sparacio moved up to varsity as an eighth-grader for the 2023-24 playoffs. Last year, he averaged 10 points per game, scoring 14 in the loss to Carle Place in the Long Island final. He is averaging 20 ppg this year.

“It was a great opportunity,” Sparacio said. “I was thankful for the opportunity, and I seized it. It helped me a lot with my development and my offseason work, what to work on and what to focus on.”

Searl, who averaged 11 ppg for Mattituck, was Suffolk County League VII rookie of the year and an all-league selection.

“It was very important for me to get that amount of time as a freshman, because some of those games with the crowd and pressure on me,” he said. “Going into this season, I feel a lot more comfortable. I know what to do in pressure scenarios. I feel confident and believe in myself.”

Carr-Smith is averaging 17 ppg, including a 24-point effort against Shelter Island, scoring off of eight three-pointers.

“Oakley is a shooter, but he can also go inside,” Ellwood said.

Then there’s the “old guard.” The Tuckers have three key seniors in 6-foot-6 forward Tyler Brown, Michael Buckley and Trey Hansen, returning from a torn meniscus.

“We’re still a little physically immature, so we might have to take some bruises,” Ellwood said. “Hopefully, that’s where some of the biggest seniors accepted roles, being the grind-it-out-guys, the tough guys that did the rebounding, played defense, made the extra pass and put the team first. If the seniors can fall in line with the way the seniors did last year, we should be in the same situation at the end of the year, potentially playing for a county championship.”

Brown, a backup last season, will have a greater role for the Mattituck team this year.

“Tyler came along very strong at the end of last year,” Ellwood said. “He was a presence in the paint. He’s got a nice little baby hook. He can finish around the rim. He doesn’t force it. He’s going to draw two defenders, which will give kickouts to our shooters.”

Outside of Brown, there are no set positions. Many players are interchangeable, moving from guard to forward and vice versa.

“Basketball has changed,” Ellwood said. “You always hear them say, position-less basketball. We’re trending in that way.”

League VII has Class A and B teams. As long as Mattituck finishes at least .500 against B schools, it will reach the playoffs.

“It is a league within the league,” Ellwood said. “With Southampton becoming a B, that makes that even more of a challenge. It’s Southampton, Port Jefferson and Babylon. This little wiggle room between what we have to do with Port Jeff and Babylon are going to be the big games.”

But this team could be different than others.

“Being in Mattituck, a smaller school, a lot of kids are secondary basketball players,” Brown said. “We have a lot of kids that are primary basketball players. It’s special. We have so many young kids that we’ve brought in throughout the years, like Antonio, Oakley. We have so many kids that are continuing to get better and better. It’s not so senior-focused. It’s whoever’s the best is going to play.”

The Tuckers’ goals are lofty and familiar – the LI championship.

“If we make it that far, we’re going to see Carle Place,” Brown said. “I’m sure they’re just as hungry as we are. They want a rematch. The ultimate goal is to get back there and beat them.”