GIRLS BASKETBALL: Mattituck overcomes adversity, clinches share of first place

BY BOB LIEPA  |  SPORTS EDITOR

The highlight of the night wasn't a shot, a pass or a block, but rather an emotional show of support for those who have battled or are battling cancer.

Prior to a Coaches vs. Cancer high school girls basketball game on Friday that raised money and awareness to help fight the disease, Mattituck Tuckers Coach Steve Van Dood, with a microphone in his hand, addressed the Mattituck High School crowd. He told the fans he was dedicating the game to the memory of his late father, Edward, who died of cancer on March 30, 2001.

Then each of the Mattituck players took their turn, accepting the microphone and naming a relative or friend that they were playing for who had dealt with cancer on a personal level.

"It was definitely emotional, like it was sad to think of it, but I think it was motivating also because I never realized how the world and this country and this community is impacted by cancer," said Mattituck forward Emily Ianno, who played for her best friend's father, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

"We knew that this would be something that would be powerful," Van Dood said, "and what's more powerful than basketball to send this message?"

Following a somewhat slow start to the game, the Tuckers then proceeded to outscore the Hampton Bays Baymen, 20-7, in the third quarter, pulling away to a 52-37 win in the Suffolk County League VII game. The loss knocked Hampton Bays out of playoff contention.

The Tuckers went on to earn a share of the league championship. Their 44-32 defeat of the Southampton Mariners on Monday, combined with a 62-55 win by the Wyandanch Warriors over the Center Moriches Red Devils the same night, left Mattituck (14-3, 8-2) and Center Moriches (12-6, 8-2) in a first-place tie with all their league games played. Wyandanch (12-5, 7-2) was right behind them with a game in hand.

Mattituck was to close out its regular season yesterday with a non-league game in Northport.

That Mattituck gained a league title is extraordinary, considering the Tuckers lost three starting post players to knee injuries. Erin Mulrain was ruled out for the season before the season even started, and then Stefanie Loverde and Katherine Wilcenski both underwent knee operations themselves.

Mattituck forward Emily Ianno said those knee injuries "kind of shocked us and scared us a little bit, but then we got down to it and we realized that we got to play the best that we can and we need to get past these difficulties. Everybody's been stepping up."

Injury wasn't the only adversity the Tuckers faced. When one of Mattituck 's junior varsity players died last month, it hit the team hard, said Van Dood.

"This team has been through everything together," Van Dood said. "When you talk about adversity, I couldn't think of more adversity than this team could have, but everyone seemed to step up on every given night, and that is our strength."

In Friday's game, Ianno scored eight of her team-leading 14 points during the third quarter and teammate Jackie Berkoski drilled two three-point shots. Stephenie Pisacano provided Mattituck with 12 points and six assists while another Tucker, Claire Finnican, had five blocks to go with her eight points.

Hampton Bays was led by Theresa Carey's 11 points. Andrea Tufano put up nine points and nine rebounds for the Baymen, who led by three points at halftime.

"It just took us a little while to settle in," Van Dood said. "We knew the first half was a matter of us just controlling the tempo of the game. That is how we win games. We forced bad passes, we forced the turnovers, we make them make bad decisions. We don't want them to set up their offense."

Following a somewhat rocky start on Friday, Mattituck pulled things together with a big third quarter. The Tuckers shot 8 for 14 from the field in the third quarter and 13 for 22 in the second half.

Van Dood said winning on the road has been huge for his team. Without making predictions on what the playoffs may have in store for Mattituck , the coach said, "Anything can happen, but I think the way the girls are playing and the way they're really into it this year, the heart that they play with, we can go far."

bliepa@timesreview.com