Pierson Girls Basketball Loses Lead Late, Falls at Mattituck in County Semifinal

The Pierson girls basketball team was in the driver’s seat for much of its county semifinal game at Mattituck on Monday evening, but the Whalers lost steam down the stretch when Mattituck junior standout Claire McKenzie started to get going, and the Tuckers successfully came back to win the game, 48-46.

The loss ended the season for Pierson, while Mattituck advanced to play top-seeded Babylon in the Suffolk County Class B Championship at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Face guarded by freshman Josie Mott for much of the game, McKenzie was limited to just six first-half points on Monday, but she scored 10 points down the final stretch in the fourth. It was McKenzie’s steal and layup with 4:10 remaining in the game that gave the Tuckers their first lead of the game at 42-40.

Mott, who reinjured a nagging ankle injury in the third quarter but stayed in the game, stole an inbounds pass and scored to tie the game, but McKenzie scored once again, prompting Pierson head coach John “Woody” Kneeland to call a timeout with just under two minutes remaining. Mott, who led the Whalers and tied McKenzie’s game-high with 20 points, scored not long out of the break to tie the game again, 44-44, but McKenzie responded, then a steal at halfcourt led to a layup for senior Riley Corrigan to make it a four-point game.

McKenzie was fouled late by senior Cali Wilson, who fouled out because of it. As strong as McKenzie was for Mattituck, she did miss eight of her 10 free throws in the game, including all four of her attempts in the fourth quarter and the two in the game’s final 30 seconds, which gave Pierson some hope late.

After a timeout by Pierson with 17.6 seconds, Mott drove to the basket and scored to pull the Whalers within two. A double-team trap at halfcourt by Mott and fellow freshman Molly Wolfson forced a turnover by McKenzie that senior Ani Bedini corralled and quickly outlet to Mott, but she couldn’t get a clean shot off and time ran out.

Kneeland said after the game that his team simply got tired down the stretch. He did not blame it on, nary a mention, the fact that his team’s last game was 18 days prior. Despite losing the lead late, he was still proud of pushing a team that’s now won 13 games this season, and the last time Pierson played in Mattituck on January 28 it lost by 13.

“We were playing basically six kids, and I think we got a little tired. I was trying to call timeouts just for rest at times,” he said. “We had two days of full team practice. I asked them to give it their all, and I think at least they did that and I’m proud of them for that. They went after it.”

The girls were feeling good at halftime, Kneeland said, to the point that they wanted to continue to press Mattituck on the defensive side of the ball. That helped them, in part, to take a 38-32 lead into the fourth, but it was clear from the start of the fourth that maybe that defensive effort the first three quarters may have been a bit too much. The Whalers started to struggle mightily on offense, then McKenzie and the Tuckers started to turn things around.

“They wanted to press them so we kept pressing, and that’s great,” Kneeland said. “They understand who they are and as a coach I’m proud of that. I’m proud that you go through your season and learn who you are and what you want to be and say something like a suggestion like that you believe in. I’m good with that, I like that, because I have to trust them just as much as they have to trust me.

“Tough way to end the season but proud of where we got.”

This season was almost like a mirror image of last season. The Whalers reached the county semifinal a year ago but instead faced Babylon and played another tough game in an away gym and lost by five points. This year it was a two-point loss in Mattituck.

Kneeland felt like had things gone right for his team it could have beaten anybody.

“I thought we had just as much chance to beat any one of these teams that were in the county,” he said. “I thought we had just as good a chance as anybody to win this game. I think you’d be a fool as a coach to walk in here to any one of these three teams and be like, we’re going to win this game. If you’re saying that you’re probably getting yourself in a little bit of trouble.”

The end of the season marked the final games for seniors Bedini and Wilson. Foul trouble throughout Monday’s game kept Wilson off her game. She was unable to get on the score sheet and fouled out in the final minute, but as Kneeland noted, she was a huge part of the team’s success this season.

“I really enjoyed coaching her this year,” he said. “I’m proud of her. I think she came a long way as a player and as a leader. Doesn’t always go our way with fouls but not because of a lack of effort. She puts it out there.”

The same goes for Bedini, who tore her ACL last season but worked her way back to the team this season.

“I said it at Senior Night, I was so happy that she was coming back for open gyms. I was shocked, quite frankly,” Kneeland said. “I didn’t think she was ever going to play basketball again, and I don’t think we would be here without her either, because you’ve got to have a toughness person. You’ve got to have a warrior in there that’s willing to box it out underneath. Skye [Smith] is sort of our athletic enforcer inside and Ani is the physical enforcer.

“I really wanted to get this one for them,” he added about his two seniors. “I didn’t want their season to end like this, but I also said to them, if you guys walk off this court and you know you left it out there, then there’s no reason to hang heads. I think they’re a little upset that they lost but they’re not upset that they didn’t give it their all, and that’s what matters.”

While the loss of Bedini and Wilson will be felt, the fact remains that the majority of the team is still returning and is still young. Mott and Wolfson, the latter of whom scored 16 points on Monday, will be returning, along with Smith, and Kneeland added that there are a number of junior varsity players who “are ready to rock ’n’ roll.”

“The future’s bright,” Kneeland said, as he paused and followed up. “I feel like I’ve been saying that for a couple years in a row, but we’ve been moving in the right direction ever since COVID. That’s all I can ask.”