The East Hampton High School boys basketball, boys swimming, and wrestling teams had losing records going into the Christmas break, but all three of them have been competitive.
The boys basketball team, which Bill McKee came out of retirement to coach again after Dan White went back to Pierson (Sag Harbor) High School, defeated Eastport-South Manor 58-49 on Dec. 18 and lost 64-56 to Comsewogue on the 21st.
The wrestling team, whose coach is Ethan Mitchell, was 3-8 when the vacation began, having defeated West Babylon 48-19 here on Dec. 15, having tied the defending league champion, Bellport, 33-33 on Dec. 20, and having gone 1-1 at a tri-meet at Connetquot on the 23rd.
The boys swimming team, coached by Craig Brierley, went into the holiday break at 1-1 in league meets and at 1-3 over all after having lost 86-80 to Northport-Commack, a nonleague opponent, on Dec. 18.
Back to basketball, “We know what we have to do,” McKee said when the question was raised. “We have to be more patient on offense, we have to play with more poise — we’re rushing things too much — and on defense we have to box out. We’re practicing these things every day, and we should improve.”
His players, he said, had done a good job defensively at Eastport-South Manor, limiting its two high-scorers, who had been averaging 49 points, to 26. A 16-8 third quarter put East Hampton over the top, said McKee, who added that three of his players, Toby Foster with 18 points, Zach Dodge with 16, and Liam Fowkes with 11, finished in double figures, and that Mason Jefferson was not far behind, with 8. Moreover, the Bonackers had done well, he said, on the boards, giving up only three offensive rebounds.
Poise could have come in handy in the final minutes of the Comsewogue game. Down by 8 points at the half, East Hampton pulled to within 3 in the final minutes, only to turn the ball over on two successive trips down the floor. “Plus, we gave up way too many offensive rebounds in that one. . . . Our shooting is better, but, as I said, we have to be more patient. We need to get to the foul line.”
Still and all, McKee said he was “happy with the way we fought back in the fourth quarter” of the Comsewogue game.
Dodge led the way in scoring with 16 points, followed by Jefferson with 14, Fowkes with 8, Foster with 7, and Cash Muse with 7. Comsewogue made a dozen 3s, East Hampton made eight.
As for wrestling, East Hampton has all the weights covered except for 108 and 116 pounds. In defeating West Babylon, Bronco Campsey at 101, Juan Roque at 124, Esteban Velez at 138, Luke Castillo at 145, Adam Beckwith at 170, and Jhojairo Contreras at 190 all won by pin. Anthony Petersohn at 131 decisioned his man 4-2. Juan Espinoza won by forfeit at 215, and Francesco Palombino was an 8-2 winner at 285.
It was Campsey’s second period pin of Colin Reilly in the last bout that enabled East Hampton to tie Bellport at 33-33 on Dec. 20. Roque at 124, Alex Cabrera at 160, Beckwith at 170, and Palombino at 215 also won by pin that day.
In the tri-meet at Connetquot, East Hampton defeated Center Moriches 49-18. Roque at 124 and Eduardo Calle at 131 won by decision, and Beckwith (170), Aman Chugh (190), Espinoza (215), and Palombino (285) pinned their men. The home team defeated the Bonackers 61-7, with only Campsey, by 4-2, and Roque, by 17-6, winning. Beckwith was edged 7-6 at 170. East Hampton’s league record was 1-2 when the vacation began.
Turning to swimming, Brierley said his charges won six of the 11 events contested in the meet on Dec. 18 with Northport-Commack, bearing out his prediction that the meet would be close, even though the opponents had a few more swimmers than East Hampton did.
East Hampton’s winners were Liam Knight in the 200-yard freestyle, Emmet McCormac in the 50 free and the 100 free, the 200 free relay team of Knight, Abe Stillman, Jack O’Sullivan, and McCormac, Nick Chavez in the 100 backstroke, and the 400 free relay team of Knight, Owen Robins, Ben Kriegsman, and Chavez.
East Hampton led 70-69 going into the penultimate event, the 100 breaststroke, but Northport-Commack swept that to put it over the top.