On Bonac’s Hoops Hopes

Dan White, who coaches East Hampton High School’s boys basketball team, is cautiously optimistic, as they say, on the verge of his third season here.

How the team does this winter would hinge, he said, on whether his players stayed healthy and remained academically eligible. Jack Reese, who’s playing at Baruch College now, was the sole senior starter last year, though Malachi Miller, Max Proctor, Turner Foster, Bladimir Rodriguez Garces — seniors all — and Jeremy Vizcaino, a junior, are back. New players, all junior guards, are Christian Johnson, Liam Leach, Logan Gurney, and Frank Bellucci.

“I’m lucky to have a core group of seniors who are in their third year of varsity basketball, and I expect those five to lead the way. The program is moving in the right direction — we’re improving and winning more. We are unselfish when it comes to shooting and can play in a variety of ways — definitely not one-dimensional. I would like us to be more consistent defensively, however. There were too many games last year where, because of lack of focus, we had a bad two or four minutes. I think we’ll be competitive if we rebound effectively and play for each other.”