East Hampton High School's boys basketball team was 2-1 in league play as of Tuesday, and 2-3 over all.
Mount Sinai defeated the Bonackers 61-46 in the opener, "but we didn't have our full team," Bonac's coach, Dan White, said. "We had everyone when we played Miller Place [last Thursday], and beat them 52-38. We beat Islip 55-31 on Saturday and then lost 53-51 in a great nonleague game at Southampton on Sunday."
Asked what happened at the end, White said, "We were down 52-50 in the final 30 seconds. There was a jump ball, which went over to them. We had to foul, and they made one of the free throws."
The Bonackers lost 60-55 to Mattituck, another nonleague opponent, on Monday. Luke Reese, the sophomore point guard, led East Hampton's scoring with 22 points. Topher Cullen had 13, and Jack Dickinson 9.
"It was our third game in three days and some of these kids have been playing 32 minutes," said the coach.
"I've got three sophomores starting," he added. "Luke, Jack, and Finn Byrnes, a spectacular rebounder. Luke, Jack, Topher, and Charlie Condon have been scoring in double figures. Luke had 29 against Miller Place, and Topher and Charlie each had 16 in the next one, with Islip. Those three and Jack have been producing."
Bayport-Blue Point was to have played here yesterday, East Hampton is to play at Amityville tomorrow, weather permitting, and Hampton Bays, another nonleague opponent, is to play here on Saturday at noon.
Krista Brooks, who coaches East Hampton High's girls team, began the season with nine or 10 players, but that number has nearly doubled in recent days, presenting her with a numbers problem that she agreed was good to have.
Two fourth-year seniors, Paige Cordone and Ava Wojtusiak, lead the team, and there are two others — Katrina Osterberg, who did not play as a junior, and Asha Hokanson, a top-notch soccer player who, until now, has not played basketball here.
There is one junior, Nora Conlon, nine sophomores, and three ninth graders. As of Tuesday, a good number of Brooks's charges were practicing only, not playing. "We'll have 15 at practice today — we've got 17 on the squad in all."
The team came out on the short end in its first three games, losing to Mount Sinai, Miller Place, and Islip, "though we played pretty smoothly against Islip. Our defense was better, and, against Miller Place, we would have kept up with them if we'd played all the quarters the way we played the third. . . . We've been taking good shots, they just haven't been falling."
Scoring-wise, it's been Cordone and Wojtusiak for the most part, though Chloe Swickard, one of the sophomores, and Conlon have chipped in too.
"They've been working hard, I'm very proud of them . . . impressed," Brooks said.
The girls were to have played at Bayport-Blue Point yesterday. The senior game is to be here tomorrow, with Amityville, at 5:30 p.m. The short season is to end Wednesday at Sayville.