Sayville was the East Hampton High School boys basketball team’s opponent here on Jan. 25, and the Bonackers, even without Luke Reese, who looked on from the bench, proved to be up to the task, getting off to a good start on the way to a 43-32 win that evened their league record at 3-3.
Jack Dickinson fed Cash Muse for an easy bucket to get it going, then Dickinson, after coming up with a steal, was fouled, earning him two free throws, both of which he made. Soon after, Hector Montanaldo, East Hampton’s sole senior starter, the team’s point guard, hit from long range, and Liam Fowkes capped a fast break for 9-2.
With East Hampton leading 13-5, as the result of another basket by Muse, who had threaded his way through traffic, Sayville’s coach called for a timeout, after which an energetic press pared the lead a bit. A 3-pointer by Richie Carmody just before the buzzer sounded pulled the Golden Flashes to within 5, at 15-10.
By the half, Sayville had cut Bonac’s margin to 2, at 23-21, keyed by a Ryan Cunningham buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
A foul shot by Dickinson and two fast-break layups by Fowkes treated East Hampton to a 28-21 lead in the third period’s early going, but Sayville wouldn’t go away. A 3-pointer by Anthony Contaldi trimmed Bonac’s lead to 4 with a little more than two minutes to go, after which baskets by Finn Byrnes, Muse, and Fowkes extended the margin to 10, at 35-25. But it was 35-30 going into the final quarter after Sayville’s Cunningham drained a 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded.
A turnaround 2 by Byrnes put East Hampton up 37-30 at the beginning of the fourth, and, after some to-and-fro, Dickinson came up with another steal and fed Fowkes, who was fouled in going to the hoop. The sharp-shooting sophomore, who was to finish with a game and career-high 21 points that night, made both shots, for 39-30.
Five minutes were left to play, but Sayville, try as it might, could make no more headway, despite the fact that in the waning minutes Fowkes and Muse had shots of theirs blocked and Byrnes and Montanaldo turned the ball over.
A fast-break bucket by Cunningham trimmed East Hampton’s lead to 39-32 with three minutes to go. Following a turnover by Montanaldo, Sayville called timeout, and when play resumed and the visitors had inbounded, Byrnes fouled Jeremy Brett, who was awarded two shots, both of which he missed. Dickinson rebounded the second, and drew a foul from Cunningham. East Hampton’s junior guard-forward missed his first try, Sayville rushed down the court, but Muse came up big with a block, and then cashed in with a basket at the other end for 41-32.
Byrnes and Fowkes — a rarity for him — missed the front ends of one-and-ones as the seconds ticked away. After Cunningham came up empty from 3-point range, Fowkes capped the win with an uncontested layup.
“Our spectacular defense did the trick,” Dan White, East Hampton’s coach, said afterward. “That and the fact that we crushed ’em on the boards. It was a good win.”
East Hampton’s next two games, however, at Kings Park last Thursday and at Rocky Point Friday, resulted in lopsided losses. “I’m not one to make excuses,” White said, “but we needed to practice before those games, and we weren’t able to. Frankly, the kids were exhausted — they had to play four games in five days.” The packed end-of-season schedule “has been tough on them.”
Reese, who had injured his knee early in December, returned to the lineup for the game with Islip, as written up elsewhere on his page, and warmed up before the Rocky Point game, White said, “but he was in too much pain to play. He won’t play for the rest of the season.”
East Hampton was to have played at Amityville on Monday and at Half Hollow Hills West on Wednesday. It is to play at Islip Thursday night, and at Harborfields on Saturday.
“We need to practice,” the coach said in parting. “It’s all little things . . . free throws, passing . . . and little things mean a lot.”