Wrestlers Bageled, Boys Hoopsters Slay Sayville
East Hampton High’s boys basketball team, which was to have played back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday as a result of last Thursday’s blizzard, enjoyed an easy 71-49 win here on Jan. 2 over Sayville, a win that Dan White, the coach, attributed primarily to improved defensive play.
“They only lost by 10 to East Islip [which had defeated East Hampton 75-52],” said White. “I’m happy with our effort. To have three players in double digits [Bladimir Rodriguez Garces, with 23, Malachi Miller, with 21, and Jack Reese, with 15] is good.”
The Bonackers led by 7 points midway through the second quarter, but proceeded to pull away from there, entering the half up 39-26.
A fast-break layup by Reese, East Hampton’s senior point guard, put the home team up by 47-28 midway through the third, after which a technical foul assessed Sayville sent him to the foul line, where he made all three attempts for a 22-point lead — the margin of victory in the end.
White cleared his bench with 2 minutes and 15 seconds to play.
Rodriguez Garces also had 10 rebounds, and Reese had 10 assists. Miller hit four 3-pointers.
East Hampton’s junior varsity, coached by Joe McKee, was 7-2 as of Jan. 2.
As of Monday, East Islip, at 6-0, led League V, after which came Kings Park, at 5-1, Westhampton Beach, at 4-1, Harborfields, at 3-2, East Hampton, at 2-3, Islip, at 2-4, Sayville, at 2-4, Rocky Point, at 1-4, and Hauppauge, at 0-6.
In League VIII, Bridgehampton’s Killer Bees presented Ron White with his first varsity win by defeating Southold 60-48 on Jan. 3, thus breaking a six-game losing streak. In Sag Harbor that day, the Pierson Whalers beat Shelter Island 70-47, improving their overall record to 3-5. As of Monday, Bridgehampton, Greenport (7-2 over all), and Pierson were each at 1-0 in league play, with Shelter Island at 1-1, and with the Ross School, Smithtown Christian, and Southold all at 0-1.
The only other East Hampton High School team to see action this past week was wrestling, in a meet here on Jan. 3 with Hauppauge, the undefeated League V leader.
Things went quickly as the Eagles, who have been pounding their opponents, soared to a 75-6 win, which improved their record to 4-0 and dropped East Hampton to 0-3.
East Hampton’s points were the result of a Hauppauge forfeit at 152 pounds. Andreas Koutsogiannis, wrestling up, put up a good fight at 195. He led his opponent 3-0 following a second-period escape and a takedown. But a subsequent reversal made it 3-2, and, with a minute to go in the third, Koutsogiannis was pinned.
Bonac’s sole winner on the mats that day was Marco Rabanal, who won by pin in the third period of a junior varsity 170-pound match.
Brian Mott, who assists Anthony Piscitello — a former Hauppauge wrestler himself — in coaching East Hampton’s team, wasn’t particularly consoled when this writer said that at least East Hampton had a team. “There were only three who showed up for practices during vacation,” he said.