Cliff-Hangers on the Court, Blowouts in the Pool

Dan White, East Hampton High’s boys basketball coach, cannot remember when in his career a team of his had ever played in four successive games three of which were decided by 1 point.

The Bonackers, who seemingly have embarked on a season much like last year — though, unfortunately, without the services of Bladimir Rodriquez-Garces, their tallest player, whose broken foot will likely keep him sidelined through the rest of the campaign — lost 79-78 to Mattituck on Dec. 7, lost 73-72 to Bayport-Blue Point on Dec. 11, and, on Friday, won 49-48 at Shoreham-Wading River.

“We were up by 1 point with 20 seconds left at Bayport when their best player, with three of our guys on him, was fouled in trying for a 3, and made both shots,” said White, adding that “at Shoreham, we were down by 2 points with 15 seconds left when Liam Leach hit a 3-pointer from the left wing.”

Asked if he were playing a three-guard offense with Rodriguez Garces gone, White said, with a laugh, “A five-guard offense.” Without the 6-foot-4-inch senior center, the Bonackers were being outrebounded by about 10 per game, he said, “but it’s something we can overcome if we shoot well. We shot well at Bayport, we didn’t at Shoreham.”

Jeremy Vizcaino, Turner Foster, Malachi Miller, Max Proctor, and Leach are White’s starting five, with Nick Esquivel, Logan Gurney, and Christian Johnson coming off the bench. 

“We’re working hard,” White said. “I hope we’ll be at .500 soon.”

The news this week was considerably better insofar as the boys swimming team went. Craig Brierley’s large squad improved its record to 3-0, following up a lopsided win over Ward Melville here on Dec. 5 with easy wins over Lindenhurst last Thursday and Central Islip Friday.

This despite the fact that the team, because the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter’s pool was undergoing maintenance, could not practice last week — practice swimming at least. Brierley said his charges worked out in the high school’s fitness center and played basketball there, as well as “did some classroom work . . . to strengthen the team’s cohesion.”

The reported Lindenhurst meet score was 48-41 East Hampton, though the team exhibitioned entrants in the final three events. 

“Lindenhurst’s pool only has four lanes, which cut down on the number of competitors we could enter in each event, the timing system was faulty, and there were no blocks to dive off of — all starts were from the floor. . . . We managed to overcome the challenges, however, and even posted a few personal best times despite the absence of starting blocks.”

The winners at Lindenhurst were the 200 medley relay team of Luke Tyrell, Will Midson, Jordan Uribe, and Thor Botero; David Piver in the 200 free; Ethan McCormac in the 50 free; Tenzin Tamang in the 100 butterfly; Aidan Forst in the 100 free; Edward Hoff in the 500; the 200 free relay team of Ethan McCormac, Jack Duryea, Ryan Bahel, and Forst; Kevin Pineda in the 100 backstroke; Conor Flanagan in the 100 breaststroke, and the 400 relay team of Miles Coppola, Owen McCormac, Ramsis Jimenez, and Jack Duryea. 

Tamang, an eighth grader, was chosen by the captains as swimmer of the meet “for winning the 100 butterfly in beautiful form, and for not being affected by the false starts a faulty starting system caused.”

Emmett Harrington (50 breast), Ben Berkhofer (50 free), Joey Badilla (500 free), Mike Coppola (100 free), and Will Midson (100 free) all swam personal bests that day, and Ryan Duryea’s 24.41 in the 50 free qualified him to swim that event in the county meet.

The next day, Brierley said, “we were happy [at Central Islip] to be back in a six-lane pool.” Inasmuch as C.I. did not have a timing system, “all the events were timed by stopwatches.”

The Bonackers swept all but two of the 11 events, and, again, the winning margin was greater than the reported 90-70.

Multiple winners included Owen McCormac, in the 50 and 100 free; Piver, in the 200 free and 500 free; Ryan Duryea, in the 100 breaststroke and as the anchor of the 200 medley relay team, and Badilla, in the 100 backstroke and as a member of the 200 medley relay team.

Ethan McCormac earned a second state-qualifying time in the leadoff leg of the winning 400 freestyle relay team. 

Piver, a freshman, was picked by the captains as swimmer of the meet for having done a personal best in winning the 200 free and for having matched his best time in the 500.

Other personal bests that day were recorded by Flanagan, James Midson, Aidan McCormac, Kenny Sanchez, Kevin Pineda, Forst, Tyrell, Colin Harrison, Owen McCormac, Christian Gaines, Callum Menelaws, Bahel, Tamang, and Ethan McCormac.

Harrison’s winning time of 1:01.20 in the 100 butterfly qualified him for that event in the county meet.

The team was to have swum at Deer Park, a league opponent, Monday.