The Bonac boys basketball team is playoff bound after a thrilling 72-67 victory over Westhampton Beach in overtime on Monday. The game capped an intense finish to the season, highlighted by scrappy home wins over Comsewogue and Hauppauge.
“Really exciting. Our guys really toughed it out,” the head coach, Dave Conlon, said after beating Westhampton. “We probably could’ve ended it before overtime, but we had some tough breaks — a couple missed foul shots. But, you know what? My guys dug in and we got it done. Jackson [Carney] has really just gotten better and better as the season’s gone on. He’s had some big shots for us and has been involved in every hustle play.”
Carney, a junior guard, has been a huge factor in the team’s successes down the stretch, bringing playoff-level intensity to the games, especially against Comsewogue on Jan. 27. During that game, Carney was head-butted by one of Comsewogue’s seniors but kept his composure and helped Bonac eke out a 56-55 victory.
“We came out with effort right from the start,” Conlon said. “Jackson Carney played so tough. He was really fired up, and I think the kids really feed off of his emotions. He was really, really important for us.”
Toby Foster, the Bonackers’ point guard who scored his 1,000th point last month, was the lead scorer in the game against Comsewogue with 21 points.
“We were ready. We knew we were down Trevor [Meehan], Miles [Menu], and Irakli [Shiolashvili], so that gave us that little extra edge, and the intensity was amazing,” Foster said. “And that’s not just from our starters, that’s from the guys coming off the bench too. Sam [Vargas] did an amazing job. That was probably our biggest game. That was a win-or-go-home type of game, and I think all the guys knew that.”
Bonac followed up with a feisty 59-52 victory against Hauppauge last Thursday, putting the team within one win of the playoffs. Carney came in clutch in that game too, scoring a momentum-shifting 3-pointer.
“I was really proud of the way they fought, especially in that fourth quarter, and everyone from Jackson Carney to the two leaders of Mason [Jefferson] and Toby and Tyler [Persan] battled the whole game,” Conlon said. “There’s no rest for the weary. This poor guy [Tyler] just came back from being injured and is playing the entire game. . . . Sam Vargas off the bench, Dylan Pitts off the bench.”
East Hampton failed to punch its ticket to the playoffs on Saturday, losing to Eastport-South Manor 61-58. The Senior Night game is tomorrow at 7 in the high school gym.
