When this writer began reciting the woes of last winter the other day, remarking on a virtual season-ending knee injury suffered by East Hampton High’s star point guard, Luke Reese, in the first home game and on a subsequent Covid-caused 10-day pause that forced the Bonackers to play seven league games in close succession, Dan White said he’d rather talk about the present, which looks quite promising for his boys basketball team.
To begin with, Reese, one of three returning senior starters, has “made a full recovery,” White said, which is good news because Reese runs the offense with aplomb and can hit from the outside, drive to the hoop, and is deadly from the foul line. Then there’s Jack Dickinson and Finn Byrnes, two solidly-built athletes who are expected to control the paint, and Liam Fowkes, a junior swingman, who can be lights-out from 3-point range.
Rounding out White’s core group are Mike Locascio, an agile junior guard, Cash Muse, a tall junior forward, two seniors, Nick Cordone and Ben Zazula, who saw significant playing time last year, Carter Dickinson, Jack’s younger brother, a stocky sophomore, and Toby Foster, a freshman who White said may stay up with the varsity.
Needless to say, East Hampton did not make the playoffs last year, though should everyone stay healthy -- White in that regard is sitting Jack Dickinson, who tweaked a knee in a recent practice, for the first three games -- the chances seem good for making them this winter.
“We should finally reach our potential,” White said last February as he was envisioning the 2022-23 campaign.
The team is one of those that will play closer to home than it had in the past, thanks to Section XI’s approving a plan put forward by the former athletic director, Joe Vas. White’s crew will no longer have to travel to play league games at Amityville, Half Hollow Hills West, Harborfields, and Kings Park; Sayville will be its farthest-flung league opponent. Other teams in East Hampton’s league are Comsewogue, Mount Sinai, Miller Place, Rocky Point, Shoreham-Wading River, Bayport-Blue Point, Westhampton Beach, Eastport-South Manor, and Hampton Bays, all Class A schools.
Concerning his players, White said, “They’re a good group, they work hard, they’re very physical, and they know how to play unselfishly.” They’re versatile, he added, capable of varying offensive and defensive sets without skipping a beat. “Luke and Liam can hit the 3, and Jack and Finn can go to the rim.”
The Bonackers played in a three-way scrimmage Saturday at Center Moriches. The third team was Copiague. East Hampton’s first home appearance will be in the revived Kendall Madison Foundation tournament on Friday, Dec. 9, and Dec. 10. East Hampton is to play Bridgehampton and Southampton is to play East Islip in first-round games on the evening of Friday, the 9th, with the consolation and championship games to be played the next evening. East Hampton will open its league season at Sayville on Dec. 13, and will play Rocky Point here on Dec. 19.
