The momentum seemed to have shifted late in the fourth quarter at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue on Tuesday night in the Long Island Class B championship.
In a game where scoring was at a premium, Carle Place took the lead, 33-32 with two minutes remaining after a big time three point basket that sent the Carle Place-heavy crowd to a frenzy. Mattituck had held control for most of the game and for the first time, they were in danger of losing.
Turnovers brought Carle Place back in the game and Mattituck needed to respond. They refused to back down.
After Katie Hoeg tied it at 33 with a free throw, both teams had empty possessions until Brianna Perino broke free underneath the basket and scored her only two points of the game to give Mattituck the lead, 35-33. But with one minute left on the clock it was far from over.
It was a complete defensive battle. Both teams were laying out all over the court, collecting steals, coming up with big stops — Mattituck sophomore standout Liz Dwyer called the game “more like football than basketball.”
“We both wanted it and it showed,” Dwyer continued.
It was going to come down to who wanted it more.
“Either team could’ve won tonight,” Mattituck head coach Steve Van Dood said.
As the seconds ticked off the clock, Carle Place prepared its final possession. They got off a few shots and kept coming up with big rebounds over and over as Mattituck could not box their bigs out.
The score remained 35-33 from one minute left down to 19 seconds when Carle Place called a timeout. There was no time left on the shot clock. It was all down to this one last possession.
And as the ball was passed around, swift-handed Dwyer came to the rescue and stole the ball away, recording her fifth steal of the game with 11 seconds left.
“I don’t even remember the steal,” Dwyer said. “My mind was racing the whole time.”
She quickly got it over to Corinne Reda, who was instantly fouled and sent to the line to put the game essentially out of reach.
She hit the first shot to make it a three-point game.
“I was able to exhale after that first shot,” Reda said, who scored 11 points. “I might have exhaled too much though.”
Her second shot was off the mark and Carle Place was in business. They called a time-out with seven seconds remaining.
But before they got a chance to get a shot off for an opportunity to tie the game, Reda came up with a big-time steal and was fouled.
One basket would put the game out of reach.
“I just wanted to make one and I knew if I did it would be over,” Reda said.
She did just that, making one of two free throws to seal the deal. Mattituck’s record-setting season lives on. They won the Long Island championship for the first time in school history.
“That’s our 20th victory,” Van Dood said. “We are the first team in Mattituck to do it. Long Island champions. I like the sound of that.”
Mattituck will play the winner of the Section I and Section XI game for the Class B regional final on Saturday at St. Joseph’s College. The game will be played at 7:30 and there will be a $7 admission.
SoutholdLOCAL photos by George Faella
