25 Years Ago in Bonac Sports: 01.11.18

December 24, 1992

In typical Killer Bees fashion, the Bridgehampton High School basketball team, facing a tough opponent from a considerably larger school, rose to the occasion before finally succumbing to Amityville 58-48 last Thursday. 

The Warriors scored only two buckets in the entire second quarter, Bridgehampton having stepped up its defensive play, suddenly making it difficult for Amityville to operate. By halftime the Bees were within 5. The tone of the game had been set — the remainder would be played by both teams in an in-your-face-I-can-do-that-too style. And so it was.

With time winding down in the third stanza, Carl Johnson, the Bees’ coach, inserted one of his four ninth-grade baby boomers, Marcus Johnson, into the fray. It proved to be the right move.

It is frightening to imagine how good Bridgehampton is going to be in two or three years. Javon Harding, one of the boomers, already starts. Nick Thomas, another, and Terrell Hopson, a third, already play regularly. So too will Marcus Johnson from now on.

 Carl Johnson barely can contain himself when discussing the future of this team: “I would say we have the potential to be one of the greatest teams in the history of East End basketball in two or three years,” he said. And he wasn’t exaggerating, folks, although his team is 1-1 in the here and now. — Rick Murphy

December 31, 1992

High school basketball fans who attended the Westhampton-East Hampton affair at Bonac’s gym on Dec. 23 received an early Christmas present, a rousing cliffhanger that wasn’t decided until the very last moment of the game.

The Hurricanes came out on top 68-66, but the locals looked ready for the coming League Seven season in defeat.

With time running out, Ross Gload got the ball and launched a 3-pointer that would have tied the score, but Pete Donahue, Westhampton’s 6-foot-5-inch senior point guard, was there to snuff it. Gload got the ball back, went up again from 22 feet, and Donahue sent it back again. This time, the whistle sounded. Foul on Number 44. Three charity shots for Gload . . . one second left on the ticker . . . the home team down by three. . . . 

The first attempt went in and out. Ed Petrie called timeout. The second attempt went cleanly through. Petrie called timeout again, and sent Peter Maxey into the game.

Bonac fans knew what was coming — the intentional miss, the last-second attempt at a tie off a rebound putback. As so often seems to happen with Petrie-coached teams, the play fell into place perfectly. Gload sent up a liner that bounced off to the left. Maxey, perfectly placed, grabbed the ball in midair and sent it back to the hoop. It rattled around and fell off as the buzzer sounded. — Rick Murphy