Tuckers girls’ hoops looks to overcome preseason losses

Well before the Mattituck High School girls’ basketball team attempted a shot in competition this season, the Tuckers suffered not one, but two losses.

Two players who were expected to take on important roles are not with the squad.

Senior Page Kellershon wanted to focus on preparing for the spring lacrosse season and fellow senior McKenna Clark suffered a muscle tear in her leg that will keep her sidelined from the Suffolk County League VII season.

Despite that news, head coach Steve Van Dood hasn’t moped around. Instead, he’s thinking about how to get the most out of his team. Van Dood is counting on a few holdovers, newcomers and All-County selection Claire McKenzie to propel the Tuckers (13-9, 11-5) to another successful campaign.

“It’s tough. We’ve just got to fill those shoes,” he said. “That’s what happens in the small schools. Constantly just trying to fill the gaps. I just make kids positional players, try to make them dual roles. Just teach everything you can and just make them better while they’re here in the gym.”

The attack again will revolve around McKenzie, who can handle the ball, rebound and shoot from distance. She has her sights set on reaching 1,000 career points. If she reaches that milestone, McKenzie will become the third girl to crack that barrier in school history, Van Dood said. 

McKenzie, who finished 11th among Suffolk scorers with a 17.3 points per game average last year, has accrued 762 points in her three-year career, according to Newsday statistics.

“It would be a dream come true. That’s literally all I have wanted since I started playing basketball,” said McKenzie, a three-sport standout who will be attending Rollins College next year on a lacrosse scholarship. She most recently played for the Tuckers volleyball team that lost in the Class B final to Bayport-Blue Point.

No one needs to remind Van Dood that he has a special player in the 5-foot-10 McKenzie.

“She takes on a really good leadership role,” he said. “I think she’s really ready to be the captain this year, just keeping the girls believing in themselves. Claire will be good for us as a go-between between coach and player. That’s the one role she’s going have to take on, being a mentor to the kids as well. She’s a good fit for that.”

McKenzie’s reaction? Bring it on.

“I’m looking forward to being a leader because I’m a senior,” she said.

Another three-sport standout, senior Grace Quinn, a 5-8 guard-forward, is expected to see plenty of playing time, even though she took up the sport only last year.

“Basketball is still a new sport to me,” she said.

But given Quinn’s success and competitiveness in lacrosse and volleyball, she is a player who should not be taken lightly.

“I have good speed compared to others in other sports involved,” she said. “I feel I have a good sports IQ.”

A pair of guards, senior Fiona Dunn and sophomore Riley Richert, are expected to contribute as well.

“Coming into practice, I thought that we weren’t going to be that strong, because we lost a lot of girls from last year, but from the looks of it, I think we’re going to be really great,” McKenzie said. “A lot of younger girls are stepping up. That’s going to help us.”

Van Dood certainly hoped so.

“We have a couple of young kids that played JV last year,” he said. “They came up as eighth graders, and they put in some really good minutes … In our league, having young kids, you can maybe get away with it.”

The Tuckers’ minimal goal each year is to qualify for the playoffs. They want to duplicate what they accomplished during their 2023-24 county championship season.

Last year, the Tuckers reached the final, dropping a 57-22 game to archrival Babylon.

McKenzie said that she wanted “to make it as far as we can, especially since this is my last year. But most importantly, beating Babylon, because we have a rivalry that it goes every other year. We win; we lose. This year, since it’s my last one, make sure we beat them.”

Van Dood felt that it was possible, with a caveat.

“We’ve got to be our best in every game,” he said. “We’ve got to be up ready to play good defense.”