February 2, 1995
The Pierson High School Whalers thrust themselves into the county Class D title hunt Tuesday by beating the Killer Bees of Bridgehampton 58-51.
The Bees’ coach, Carl Johnson, had no one on the bench, owing to two academic ineligibilities. Two of the starters had virtually no experience.
. . . Last week, one player quit the team and another injured an ankle. Since the Bees do not field a junior varsity, that left Johnson with no available bodies to fill his roster, a predicament that may be unprecedented in local hoops history.
February 9, 1995
Richard Cooney Sr., the East Hampton School District’s athletic director for the past 20 years, has announced that he will retire June 30.
. . . Cooney came to East Hampton in 1969 from the Brentwood District, where for seven years he had taught physical education and had been the head football coach, the junior varsity wrestling coach, and at varying times the varsity track and lacrosse coach. He continued to coach football, wrestling, and track here, giving up wrestling and track when he was named athletic director in 1974.
He was East Hampton’s varsity football coach from ’69 to ’84, during which he won league championships in ’73 and ’81. The latter team, quarterbacked by his eldest son, Richard Jr., also won the county Class B championship. . . . He was president of Section XI, the governing body for public high school sports in Suffolk, from 1992 to ’94.
By virtue of a 20-13 win over Westhampton on Feb. 1, the East Hampton High School bowling team won the league championship, the first outright title an East Hampton bowling team has won in 32 years. Al Mothes, as he has all season, led the way with a soaring 259-720 series.
Szczepankowski, a 4-year-old colt owned by Paul Giardina’s Cedar Meadow Farm in East Hampton, and named after the Sagaponack farming family, won a six-furlong maiden claiming race, the day’s fifth, at Aqueduct on Jan. 28. . . . He paid $43.60 to $2 bettors.
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The playoffs may be out of the question for the East Hampton High School boys basketball team because of a 78-48 loss here Tuesday to Bridgehampton’s Killer Bees.
. . . The Bees turned a 1-point halftime deficit into a rout as they exploded for 55 points in the second half. . . . J.P. Harding finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds, Relly Hopson added 20, and Maurice Manning finished with 18 points and five steals. Nathaniel Dent had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Oh, by the way, this kid — all 5-11 of him — is the best pure power forward in the league.