Winning Night for Blue Devil Basketball
It was a winning Tuesday night for the Huntington High School boys' and girls' basketball teams, which both beat West Babylon squads in home and away contests.
The Blue Devil boys' team topped the Eagles in a showdown in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium before a crowd of about 250 fans, 66-56. Huntington's girls' team overcame host West Babylon, 61-34 in a game that was filmed by Verizon FIOS for later television broadcast.
The Huntington boys' team jumped out to an 18-9 lead before the Eagles rallied to tie the score at 23-23. The Blue Devils scored the last five points of the first half to take a 28-23 halftime lead. Huntington extended its lead to 15 points by going on a 22-12 third quarter run.
Patrick Reilly led all Blue Devil scorers with 27 points, including 13 in a sensational third quarter. The senior also pulled down eight rebounds. Kiernan McGovern added 14 points and Skylure Pannell pumped in another 11 points. A hustling Devon Nelson connected for eight points. Connor Birchard, Alex Castillo and Kenny McCarthy added two points each, respectively.
The victory improved Huntington's mark in Suffolk League IV play to 4-1 (5-4 overall).
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The Huntington girls' team raced to a 17-6 early lead in its game at West Babylon and held a 35-12 halftime advantage. The Blue Devils featured a well-balanced offense attack and tough defense.
Heather Forster had a team-high 14 points along with 10 assists and three steals. Raynisha Witherspoon dropped six points and added seven assists. Point guard Katie Nugent had four points, 10 assists and three steals. Mackenzie Maloney knocked down a pair of three-pointers and had 12 points and four steals.
Huntington won the game with a stellar effort on both ends of the court. "Our defense was great," said Mike Kaplan, Huntington's head coach. Tara Byrnes scored nine points off the bench. Caitlin Knowles had four points and five steals. Joelle Ceide scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Blue Devils also received scoring from Katie Reilly (three points) Emma DeGennaro (two points) and Ellyn Byrnes (one point).
Holding the Eagles to just six points in each of the first two quarters set the tone for the game. "We established ourselves early and we just took off from there," Kaplan said.