The announcer didn’t have to say too many different names for Mattituck in the Class B champion vs. Class C champion game at Riverhead High School on Saturday afternoon.
Down a couple players because of illnesses, the Tuckers relied upon Liz Dwyer and Katie Hoeg for the majority of the points in their 60-52 victory over the Pierson/Bridgehampton Whalers.
If it wasn’t Hoeg scoring, it was Dwyer. And more often than not, if one of them scored, the other would record the assist.
“After a while it was like they were playing against little girls with the way they were scoring,” Tuckers head coach Steve Van Dood said.
Dwyer scored a game-high 28 points and Hoeg was right there alongside her with 22. Both players were in double digits with rebounds as well with the two combining for 25 boards.
Fifty of the 60 points the Tuckers scored were by Hoeg and Dwyer. Hoeg also added six assists and five blocks to lead Mattituck in both categories.
Mattituck had extended the lead to 12 points with four minutes left in the game and it looked to be over until the Whalers came storming back to make it a four point game with 27 seconds remaining.
“It got a little too close at the end there,” Van Dood said. “They made some big shots to get it close. All the credit to them. They battled to the end but we still found a way to close the game out.”
The win advances the Tuckers in the small school champion bragging rights tournament to face Class A qualifier, Islip on Wednesday at Suffolk County Community College Brentwood’s campus. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m and there’ll be a $6 admission.
Win or lose, Mattituck will still continue their ascension through the Class B state championship, playing Carle Place for the Long Island championship on March 1.
As far as the game against Islip, Van Dood doesn’t know much about them, citing that he hasn’t seen the scouting report.
“What I do know is that they have some really tall girls,” he said. “So we might need to change our game plan and work a more outside game.”
SoutholdLOCAL photos by George Faella
