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Varsity boys drop home game against powerful foe

The Shelter Island boys varsity basketball team has hit a bad patch, coming up short against some talented competition.

The boys lost an away game on Dec. 13 to Pierson, with the hosts coasting to an impressive 70-50 victory over the Indians.

Tuesday night, Mattituck travelled to Shelter Island for a non-league game and posted a 91-64 win. On a scale of 1 to 10, the Tuckers played at an 11 level — they simply could not miss and played an outstanding game.

The visitors were led by senior Xavier Allen, better known as simply “X” in the Mattituck community. He is an extremely gifted player who plays both ends of the court.

The Indians did not play poorly, cutting down on their turnovers and scoring 64 points against a very good League VII team. They fell behind early, trailing 24-14 after the first quarter, but played the Tuckers evenly in the second quarter, and were down 12 at halftime.

The Islanders were led by their top player, Lucas Quigley-Dunning, who scored 15 of his team high 26 points in the first half. There was no doubt that the Tuckers focused on making “Q” work hard on every shot. Quigley-Dunning hit a total of five 3-point shots and also drove the ball to the basket. Senior Walter Richards is continuing to be a major force on the court, grabbing a team high 15 rebounds, three blocked shots and scoring 13 points.

Wyatt Congdon came off the bench to score 8 points and senior Luke Lowell-Liszanchie scored 6 points. Overall, the Indians played well on offense, but the Tuckers maintained a hot hand throughout the game. There’s no doubt that Coach Jay Card Jr. will be working hard to improve the defensive effort in the weeks to come.

Hopefully, these tough non-league games against much larger schools will help prepare the Indians for League VIII play. The Indians are currently 1-1 in league play and will be home against Hampton Bays on Friday, Dec. 20 at 6:15 p.m. Coach Card and the team really do appreciate the excellent attendance at their home games this season.