Despite not returning a single starter this season, the Mattituck High School girls basketball team didn’t hit many bumps in the road this season. But then, on Wednesday, the Tuckers ran into a wall.
The fourth straight meeting between Mattituck and Carle Place in a Long Island Class B final didn’t go the Tuckers’ way. It wasn’t even close. READ
Playing time was sparse last season for Rachel Janis as a junior. The Mattituck High School girls basketball team was rich in experience, with six seniors, including all five starters, so it wasn’t easy getting onto the court.
“I did not get much playing time at all,” she said. “It was a little hard. Usually I would get like two to three minutes in games where we up by maybe like 40 points.”
Chalk this one up in the What a Difference a Year Makes Department. READ
The question was, was there a question? Was there a question as to whether or not Mackenzie Hoeg would play Wednesday?
Actually, there was.
Hoeg had rolled her left ankle in the Mattituck High School girls basketball team’s previous game five days earlier. “I went up for a rebound and landed on it wrong, but I’m all better now,” said the 5-9 junior point guard. READ
Reckless abandon.
Those were the words Mattituck High School girls basketball coach Steve Van Dood chose to describe Jaden Thompson’s playing style.
“She throws herself on the floor,” he said. “She’s got that toughness.” READ
The similarity was sickening to Steve Van Dood.
Once again, the Mattituck High School girls basketball team played Pierson/Bridgehampton/Shelter Island. Once again, Pierson prevailed, 38-32, Thursday night. And, once again, dismal shooting by Mattituck enabled the Whalers to sink the Tuckers. READ
The Mattituck High School girls basketball players have a way of getting pumped up for games. They huddle up and chant.
“It’s called, ‘Sink Your Teeth, Draw Blood,’ ” senior forward Julie Seifert said. “It’s a little aggressive, but we all chant it.”
Not that the Tuckers really needed added motivation Thursday night in their final regular-season game. A share of the Suffolk County League VI championship was at stake — not to mention a chance for a bite of revenge in their biggest game of the season to this point. READ
It was difficult, almost impossible, for the Mattituck High School girls basketball team not to look ahead to its regular-season finale, a showdown with Pierson/Bridgehampton/Shelter Island on Thursday night that will determine the Suffolk County League VI champion(s).
“We definitely got that in the back of our minds and want to prove to Pierson who we are,” said Mattituck forward Ashley Perkins. READ
When you’re coming off the bench in a high school girls basketball game, playing time can be quite precious.
So, no one has to remind Mattituck’s Ashley Perkins or Alexa Burns that they must find ways to make an impact. (more…)
Of all the names that filled Mattituck’s scorebook Friday night, there were no players named Mayhem, Chaos or Havoc. Coach Steve Van Dood joked that perhaps there should be, given the way his high school girls basketball team plays.
For all the new players Mattituck has — and despite the fact that the Tuckers lost six players to graduation, including all five starters — they still play the same game. Their pressure defense forces turnovers, turning steals into easy layups. READ
Not only did the Mattituck High School girls basketball team lose its all-time leading scorer, Liz Dwyer, to graduation last year, but the Tuckers lost all five of their starters from last season. One might have expected them to hit a number of stumbling blocks and experience a good deal of growing pains as they adjusted this season to life after Dwyer.
So, is that how things have shaken out?
Not really. READ