Sports

Sayed Selim, the former coach of Egypt's national women's squash team, who worked so well with youngsters when he was the Southampton Recreation Center's squash director about a decade ago, continues to dream big when it comes to broadening the appeal of a sport that has largely been the province of the world's well-heeled.

Vinny Alversa and Annemarie Brown have been working hard these past few years to build their programs at East Hampton High School -- baseball in Alversa's case, softball in Brown's -- and this hard work seems to be on the verge of paying off, if last week's practices are indicative.

Before taking early retirement a few years ago, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel extensively in my job. When time allowed, especially on weekends, I often tried to visit any nearby tackle shops or fish markets to better understand and appreciate the wares and tastes of the locals.

Joe Vas, the East Hampton School District's athletic director, said Monday he thinks it will be a good spring for the high school's varsity teams, if for no other reason than the kids are finally getting a chance to play.

The eight competitors Craig Brierley took with him to the county girls swimming meet at Stony Brook University last weekend finished ninth among the 26 teams entered, and all of them turned in season-best or lifetime-best times.

Juliana Barahona and Sandrine Becht, East Hampton High's top doubles pairing, made all-state this past weekend as a result of placing third in the county individual girls tennis tournament at Shoreham-Wading River High School. The Bonac team also received the tournament's doubles sportsmanship award.

The East Hampton High School girls cross-country team finished third and the boys finished fourth in county cross-country meets last week at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park.

James Bradley, an East Hampton High School freshman, became Suffolk County's individual golf champion Tuesday, winning by three shots over Jack Bruetsch of Center Moriches, a sophomore, at the Smithtown Landing Country Club.

Before the fishing scene gets into full swing over the next few weeks, there are a few things that bear reminding for those who ply our waters with a rod and reel and more.

East Hampton's 1-0 county Class A final loss to Harborfields on Saturday came down to one set play. "If we played them 10 times, we'd win five and they'd win five," Bonac's coach said of the matchup.

After triumphing over the county's top seed, Half Hollow Hills West, in a 5-1 rout Wednesday afternoon, East Hampton High School's boys soccer team will play in a county final for the first time since 2014, facing Harborfields at Diamond in the Pines in Coram on Saturday.

East Hampton High's girls cross-country runners ran in a steady downpour at Sunken Meadow State Park last Thursday, and the team emerged, barely, as Division IV's Class B winner.

"Though it took 45 minutes for me to learn that we'd won -- by 1 point," Diane O'Donnell, Bonac's coach, said during a telephone conversation Sunday.

The reason for the long delay in posting the results had much to do with the fact that "all the electronic timing equipment had been removed. . . . Instead of chips, the girls had 3-by-5 cards clipped to their shirts with their names and numbers."

There is an old fishing proverb: "Wind from the west, fish bite the best. Wind from the east, fish bite least. Wind from the north, do not go forth. Wind from the south, blows bait in their mouth."

East Hampton High's field hockey team lost a first-round playoff game Saturday at Rocky Point. 

On Monday, for the first time this season, East Hampton High's golf team, which this past week wound up league play at 10-0, was able to play at the South Fork Country Club in Amagansett.

The East Hampton High School girls swimming team, putting in its best effort of the season, placed second to Sayville-Bayport in a virtual League III meet Friday.

The fourth-seeded East Hampton High School boys soccer team defeated fifth-seeded Hauppauge 1-0 in a quarterfinal-round game here on Friday.

The East Hampton High School girls swimming team defeated Lindenhurst 53-43 on April 6 and Harborfields 91-77 at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter Friday to finish the league season as the runner-up, at 4-1, to undefeated Sayville-Bayport.

The 8-1-1 East Hampton High School boys soccer team, as it turned out, finished as the runner-up to 9-1-0 Amityville in league play, by 1 point, and was accorded the fourth seed in the county’s Class A tournament, behind Half Hollow Hills West (9-1-0), Amityville, and Harborfields (7-1-1).

The East Hampton High School field hockey team qualified for the county playoffs by virtue of a hard-fought 2-1 win here over Pierson Tuesday, and the boys cross-country team qualified for the county Class B championship meet at Sunken Meadow next week, after a third-place finish at the division meet there Tuesday.

East Hampton's varsity football team went out on a high note Saturday, smothering Hampton Bays 30-0 for its first win of the season. The players had improved in every game, their coach said.

After last Thursday's 4-2 loss here to Miller Place, Nicole Ficeto told her East Hampton High School field hockey players, whose record had dropped to 4-5, that they would have to win out if they wanted to make the playoffs. Apparently they listened.

Joe McKee, East Hampton High School's varsity football coach, told his players after Saturday's 25-14 loss at Port Jefferson that it was the best they'd played, "by far," this season. The boys volleyball team, coached by Josh Brussell, won its first game.

East Hampton's girls cross-country team took a 3-0 record into the season-ending meet with Amityville on Tuesday. The girls volleyball team is playing well, but a win is proving elusive.

A 3-0 win over Miller Place Monday night put East Hampton at 8-1-1, with a good chance at winning or sharing a league title.

East Hampton's girls cross country team could well win another county title later this month. Results were mixed for the girls field hockey, volleyball, and tennis teams.

East Hampton High's golf team began the season Friday with two wins. Its football team fell short on Friday, and its boys vollebyall team, as of Monday had yet to get its starting lineup on the floor, due to quarantines in its own ranks and among the teams it was supposed to play.

The East Hampton High School boys soccer team put itself in position to win a league title by defeating Amityville 1-0 in an extremely hard-fought game played here Wednesday morning.

East Hampton High School's boys soccer team improved its record to 6-1-1 here Monday morning by way of a 3-0 win over Islip -- its seventh shutout of the season -- thus setting up a big game with league-leading Amityville that was to have been contested here yesterday.

East Hampton High's footballers may have lost 18-8 last Thursday, but their improved performance augured well.