[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 60 (Friday, March 31, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E749-E750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                             [[Page E749]]

                           LONG ISLAND CHAMPS

                                 ______


                         HON. MICHAEL P. FORBES

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 30, 1995
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, the standing-room-only crowd was on its feet 
as the final second ticked off in overtime. At the buzzer, the 
Riverhead Blue Waves were the Long Island basketball champions and 
bound for Glens Falls for a semifinal game in the New York State 
Tournament.
  Riverhead has beaten the favored and respected Westbury team, 79-76, 
in overtime to win the Southeast Regional Class B final.
  I wish to alert my colleagues in the House of Representatives that 
the town of Riverhead will hold a parade this Saturday, April 1, in 
honor of the Riverhead (L.I.) High School Blue Waves. Following is the 
newspaper account of the game, from the Traveler-Watchman and written 
by Bob Burns.
                 Waves Beat Westbury, on to Glens Falls

                             (By Bob Burns)

       After having a victory they seemed to have locked up 
     snatched away by an improbable three point shot with 3.3 
     seconds left in regulation time, the Riverhead High 
     basketball teams showed its class by shaking off the shock, 
     regrouping and going on to post a sweet 79-76 victory in 
     overtime last Saturday. The win, which sent the large 
     contingent of RHS rooters on hand in the Stony Brook 
     University gym into ecstasy, came over a favored and highly 
     respected foe, Westbury High, the Class B champs of Nassau 
     County. It also propelled Coach Jerry Wiesman and his 
     ecstatic Blue Wave cagers on their way this weekend to Glens 
     Falls for a semi-final game in the New York State Tournament.
       There were heroes galore for Riverhead in this nail-biter. 
     Malik Trotman got the Waves off to a fast start, ten of his 
     17 points coming in the first quarter. Mike Ruth, known to 
     some as ``The Franchise,'' lived up to that billing as he 
     came on strong in second half action finishing the day with 
     20 points including some
      spectacular baskets as well as the two free throws that 
     locked things up with 14 seconds left in that wild and 
     wooly overtime session where at times it seemed neither 
     team wanted the victory.
       Early in that extra action Ruth knocked down a short jumper 
     and that two point edge held up for two whole minutes as both 
     sides were guilty of blunders. The most glaring of which saw 
     Westbury's Jerry Baptiste, with a clear path to the hoop, be 
     whistled for traveling to wipe out his apparent basket. 
     Finally Ruth made an excellent feed to Barry Chandler 
     underneath who scored to make it 77-73. With 1:51 to go 
     Charlie Johnson, an excellent penetrator and a thorn in 
     Riverhead's side all day, made good on one of two free 
     throws. And at the 1:26 mark Brian Guyton stripped Malik 
     Trotman of the ball at midcourt and took it in for a layup. 
     Fouled on the play, which gave him a chance to tie the score, 
     Guyton missed the free throw and Jeremy Wilcoxon rebounded 
     for the Waves.
       When Wilcoxon and Guyton traded missed forced shots it was 
     5'8" Mike Ruth leaping up over 6'7" Douglas Martin to snare 
     an important rebound. However at the 1:00 mark Mike, usually 
     deadly from the foul line missed on a 1 and 1 opportunity and 
     the drama continued. Nash blocked a Westbury shot but was 
     called for a dubious walk at the other end. When Johnson's 
     shot misfired Malik Trotman grabbed the rebound and was 
     immediately fouled only to also miss his 1 and 1 chance at 
     0:19.3. Happily Nash captured the rebound on the miss and at 
     0:14.3. Mike Ruth stepped to the line to swish the two 
     charity tosses to make it 79-76.
       Mindful of what had happened at the end of regulation time, 
     no Riverhead rooter relaxed till at 0:05.6. Keith Nash took 
     the ball away from Douglas Martin and was pushed in what was 
     ruled a deliberate foul. Even though Keith missed the two 
     free throws awarded, Riverhead was also awarded the ball out 
     of bounds and ran the clock out.
       So add Nash to the list of Wave heroes for, as can be seen, 
     Keith continued the fine play he has exhibited throughout the 
     playoffs, by netting 12 points and coming up with big 
     rebounds and some vital loose balls in the stretch run. 
     Include too on that list the trio of Durrell Hobson, Jerry 
     Wilcoxon and unsung Shawn Trotman all of whom contributed 
     eight points. The last named saw his most extended service of 
     the year, pressed into duty to combat and muscle the bulky 
     6'7" Douglas Martin under the boards. Shawn also matched his 
     career high in scoring in this outing. Hobson, given the 
     unenviable task of guarding Westbury ace, 6'5" All Long 
     Island player, Stan Martin, despite giving away seven inches 
     of height, limited that worthy to but eleven points before 
     Martin fouled out with 5:29 left in the game. Those three and 
     soph Barry Chandler, who had six points,
      all had their turn coming up with baskets at key junctures.
       Without doubt Westbury, which used its height advantage to 
     great effect under the offensive board, netting at least nine 
     baskets off of their rebounding efforts, had its cause hurt 
     by Martin's departure on the five foul route. However, the 
     latter's mates took up the slack and matched the Waves' 
     basket for basket in as exciting a fourth quarter as seen 
     this season.
       To set the stage, the Green Dragons had opened the third 
     quarter with a six point run to lead 41 to 36 and gradually 
     pulled away to widen the gap to nine points, 51 to 42. Things 
     looked rough for the Waves only to have them catch fire for a 
     nine point explosion to tie the score. Keith Nash drove and 
     hit a short jumper and Shawn Trotman sank a pair of free 
     throws to start the push. Then Hobson emerged with the ball 
     out of a wild scramble and fed Ruth for a basket and 
     Durrell's second trifecta of the day knotted it a 51-51.
       The fourth period was a free-wheeling session that had the 
     lead see-sawing back and forth and the stands rocking. After 
     ties at 53 and 55, Riverhead edged a point in front on Nash's 
     three point shot at the 5:55 mark. But big Douglas Martin 
     banked in a short for the Dragons who led 61-58 after Guyton 
     scored via a rebound. And, despite Stan Martin's departure, 
     Westbury clung to its lead, 66-64, with 2:55 showing on the 
     clock, Riverhead having stayed close on double decker free 
     throws by Shawn Trotman and Ruth bracketing Chandler's 
     rebounding bucket. Then, in a quick flurry of scoring, 
     Westbury matched two clutch baskets by Mike Ruth with end 
     line jumpers by Kevin Felican and Stacy Hill and were up 70-
     69 when they called time out at the 1:27 mark.
       But the Dragons threw the ball away and Jerry Wilcoxon made 
     them pay as he drove the baseline and his underhand, scoop 
     prayer of a shot banked through the cords. So when Keith Nash 
     emerged with the ball, out of a tangle that had players from 
     both sides on the floor, and gave Trotman an outlet pass that 
     Malik took to the hoop the Waves were up 73-70 with 20 
     seconds showing and Malik, fouled on the play, going to the 
     line. It didn't seem too important when he missed but it left 
     the door open for Douglas Martin's truly miracle shot from 
     behind the three point arc with two RHS defenders in his face 
     which sent the game into overtime. It was only Martin's 
     second trifecta of the entire season and it was a 
     heartbreaker for the Waves, albeit just a temporary one as 
     noted.
       Way back in the beginning Riverhead broke off the mark in 
     full stride for a welcome change. At one juncture they had a 
     nine point lead, their widest of the game, at 23-14 before 
     settling for a 25-18 bulge at the quarter mark. Malik Trotman 
     was brilliant as he hit six of six from the foul line, added 
     a jumper in the lane and tallied after coming up with
      a slick steal for ten points Jerry Wilcoxon had added six 
     points off a rebound, a close-in back shot and a layup off 
     a Ruth assist while Mike personally had two full tilt, 
     court length drives for baskets, Durrell Hobson drilled a 
     three pointer and Nash, off the bench, sank a medium range 
     pop. Steve Martin led the Dragons with seven points and on 
     several occasions the Nassau boys played volleyball under 
     the offensive boards for eventual baskets.
       In period two Westbury had six different players score as 
     they assumed a 35-32 lead before Ruth scored with a rebound 
     and Malik Trotman's medium range jumper, set up by a Jeremie 
     Brigg's pass, found the hoop right at the buzzer so that the 
     Waves were on top 36-35 at the break. In the third quarter 
     husky Douglas Martin began to make his substantial presence 
     felt as he tallied ten points, twice making good on three 
     point plays when fouled underneath. But the Waves fought back 
     with their 9-0 run, described earlier, and the electrifying 
     rush to the wire began . . . All five Westbury starters 
     reached double figures in the scoring column with Douglas 
     Martin topping the attack with 21 points. Riverhead was 20 
     for 32 from the foul stripe, the losers going but 10 of 20.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       FG    F    PF  Pt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hobson...............................................  2   2-4    4   8 
Wilcoxon.............................................  4   0-0    4   8 
Chandler.............................................  3   0-0    4   6 
Ruth.................................................  7   6-9    1   20
M. Trotman...........................................  5   7-9    2   17
Nash.................................................  5   1-3    1   12
S. Trotman...........................................  2   4-4    2   8 
Briggs...............................................  0   0-1    1   0 
                                                      ------------------
    Total............................................  28  20-32  19  79
                                                                        
                                Westbury                                
                                                                        
S. Martin............................................  5   0-1    5   11
Guyton...............................................  5   0-1    3   10
D. Martin............................................  7   6-12   5   21
Johnson..............................................  5   1-2    1   11
Felican..............................................  5   0-0    5   10
Hayes................................................  1   3-4    1   5 
Hill.................................................  3   0-0    2   6 
Baptiste.............................................  0   0-0    1   0 


                                                                        
[[Page E750]]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       FG    F    PF  Pt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kinch................................................  1   0-0    1   2 
                                                      ------------------
    Total............................................  32  10-20  24  76
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                    

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