When you commit too many turnovers and can’t knock down a shot, you’re in trouble. Add in an opponent that makes just about every shot they take and your chances of winning are slim to none.
The Mattituck girls basketball team couldn’t muster much offense in the Class B playoff matchup against No. 1 Hampton Bays Monday and the Baymen took full advantage. The score was 21-2 after the first quarter and it didn’t get any closer as the Baymen moved on to the next round of the playoffs with a 61-22 victory.
Playing before a packed home crowd, Hampton Bays lit up the scoreboard, hitting three-point baskets at will behind the sharp-shooting trio of Mary Kelly Hilton, Hannah Reed and Alexis Fotopoulos.
Hilton could not miss in the first quarter. She scored 12 of the 21 points. She was left open a lot of the time because the defensive focus was on Reed and Fotopolous. Little did Mattituck know, Hilton was going to be the true threat.
“It seems like every team gets hot against us,” Mattituck head coach Steve Van Dood said. “I don’t know what their field goal percentage was but it was definitely really high.”
Fotopolous scored 19 and Reed added 10 in the onslaught.
No team was going to beat the Baymen on Monday night. They looked like a team well suited to make a run at the championship.
“We had some good looks tonight but the ball just didn’t land,” Van Dood said. “Hats off to them. All their sets seemed to work and when they’re shooting like that, it’s hard to get anything going.”
Nevertheless, Mattituck (10-10) still made strides and had a lot to learn from this season. The team only has a few seniors, so many will return next year. They already start two freshmen.
“It was a great season,” Van Dood said. “We lost a lot coming into the year. We lost our best player to St. Anthony’s and a couple of juniors didn’t come out for the team this year. So given what we had to deal with, we accomplished a lot this year and I’m so proud of them. Us even being here is a good sign for things to come.”
SoutholdLOCAL photos by George Faella.
