Parade To Honor Riverhead Girls' Basketball Team On Sunday

It's not every day the Riverhead girls' basketball team makes history -- and what better way to celebrate the Blue Waves, than with a parade?

To honor its young hometown heroes, residents will turn out on Main Street on Sunday to cheer on the schools and communities that make Riverhead proud.

A parade will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m.; the entire day has been designated a day of celebration by both the Riverhead Central School District and Riverhead Town to honor the Riverhead High School girls' varsity basketball team.

"This team acted as a catalyst for our community," said Riverhead Board of Education Vice President Gregory Meyer last week. "The girls played their hearts out for their team and for this community, and the residents of Riverhead and the rest of the school district came together to support the team in a major way."

The parade, he added, celebrates the town, the school district, and the young women who, "acting as a family, put everything they had into making their school and community proud."

The team won a bevy of honors during the past season, securing a League III Champions title and being recognized as Suffolk County Class AA Champions, Suffolk County Section XI Champions and, for the first-ever time in the history of girls' basketball in the district, snagging the mantle of Long Island Champions.

The team also were named MSG Varsity #20 team in the tri-state area and ended the season in a blaze of glory with a "Final Four" finish at the Class AA New York State Championship.

At a board of education meeting last Tuesday, Riverhead School Superintendent Nancy Carney said she was equally proud of the fact that the athletes comprise a New York State Scholar Athlete Team. Their team grade point average this year was a 93.1. "You have made us proud," she said.

Sunday's parade will feature a stellar lineup including the Girls' Varsity basketball team and their Blue Krew, the Riverhead High School band, the NJROTC Color Guard, district administrators, students, parents and staffers, elected officials, civic groups, and members of the police and fire departments. Coach David Spinella, the NY Division AA Coach of 2012, will introduce the players. 

The parade will begin and go down Main Street, turn left onto Peconic Avenue, and end with a short ceremony in the waterfront area, with Steve Failla, announcer for home games, serving as master of ceremonies.