East Hampton High’s wrestling team, losing only to John Glenn’s A squad, won four of the five matches it vied in at the Doc Fallot tournament in Hampton Bays Saturday, furthering its hopes for the regular season.
In other sports action last week, the girls basketball team, in defeating Smithtown-Christian, a nonleague opponent, 50-47, enjoyed what probably was the program’s third win since 2014. And the boys basketball team, after playing Southampton toe-to-toe in the first half of Saturday’s Kendall Madison tournament’s championship game, was run out of the gym by the Mariners in the third quarter on the way to an 80-44 final.
Meanwhile, the boys swimming team lost 47-46 at the Stony Brook School last Thursday, a meet that went down to the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. A one-two finish would have tilted the meet East Hampton’s way; it went one-three instead. Winners for East Hampton were Nicky Badilla in the 200 individual medley and in the 100 backstroke, Tenzin Tamang in the 500 freestyle, and two relay teams — the 200 free (Luke Tarbet, Emmet McCormac, Nick Chavez, and Liam Knight) and 400 free (Tarbet, Knight, Tamang, and Badilla).
Back to basketball, Dan White, East Hampton’s boys coach, said of the blowout, “Bottom line, our defensive rebounding wasn’t good — we’ve got to hit the boards. Rebound, run the floor, and don’t give them time to set up.”
White sat his point guard, Luke Reese, and Jack Dickinson, who is recovering from a kneecap injury, early in the fourth quarter, with Southampton up by 20, and played subs in the final six minutes, in order, he said afterward, to assure that his starters would be healthy three days hence when they opened the league season at Sayville.
A steal and layup by Liam Fowkes put the Bonackers up 36-35 with 3 minutes and 27 seconds to go in the third quarter, but then the roof caved in as Southampton, employing to great effect a suffocating trapping defense, went on a 15-0 run, sparked primarily by Derek Reed, the senior point guard, and his fellow guard, Naevon Williams, a 6-2 sophomore. After Fowkes made a 3-pointer, ending the seven-minute drought, Southampton, which was sent to the foul line six times in the period’s closing minutes, capped the devastating 27-9 quarter with a 6-0 spurt that effectively put the game away.
Williams, who finished with 25 points, was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Reed, who also wound up with 25, made the all-tournament team, as did Fowkes, who scored 15 points in the final.
East Hampton handily defeated Bridgehampton in a first-round matchup Friday. White said he was happy with the balanced scoring as Fowkes finished with 15 points and Reese and Dickinson with 12 each. East Hampton outscored the Bees 19-5 in the first quarter and went on from there. The Bees lost Saturday’s consolation game to East Islip 54-29.
Returning to the Doc Fallot tournament, Ethan Mitchell, East Hampton’s second-year coach, said that two of his wrestlers, Bronco Campsey, making his debut at 102 pounds, and Juan Roque, at 118, had gone 5-0 on the day, that Josue Elias (126), Cooper Ceva (145), and Jose Calderon (189) had gone 4-1, and that Anthony Petersohn (110), Luke Castillo (138), Matias Gonzalez (152), Juan Espinoza (189), Richie Maio (215 and 285) and Edwin Espinoza (215 and 285) had all gone 3-2.
And this was without three wrestlers — Aman Chugh, J.P. Amaden, and Adam Beckwith — who had competed in East Hampton’s Sprig Gardner tournament on Dec. 3.
Again, Mitchell said he was “proud of the kids who wrestled off their backs, who refused to get pinned, and who didn’t give up bonus points.”
Deer Park was to have opened the league season here yesterday. Mitchell said he’d have all 13 weight classes covered, the first time that’s happened in a long while. The team travels to Smithtown West tomorrow, and will go to Connetquot High School Saturday for a tri-meet with the host school and Westhampton Beach.