5 Photos
Bridgehampton senior Kris Vinski drives on East Islip sophomore Kenshin Brown. RON ESPOSITO
Bridgehampton junior Mikhail Feaster goes up with the ball. RON ESPOSITO
Bridgehampton freshman Jai Feaster covers East Islip sophomore Justin Adames. RON ESPOSITO
Bridgehampton freshman Alex Davis sees an opening in the East Islip defense. RON ESPOSITO
Bridgehampton senior Dylan Fitzgerald was named to the Kendall Madison All-Tournament Team. RON ESPOSITO
To prepare his team for the upcoming season, Bridgehampton boys basketball head coach Ron White scheduled a few nonleague games against larger schools. Part of that was accepting an invitation to the Kendall Madison Tip-Off Classic, where it would play those larger schools in host East Hampton and East Islip and perennial powerhouse Southampton this weekend.
Although it came in a pair of losses, first to East Hampton, 65-35, then to East Islip, 54-29, on Saturday night, White felt as though his team got the experience that will be valuable in what is a long season.
“The ultimate goal is to try to work and get prepared for the end of the season. That’s where it all counts, right? In March? So ultimately I think our guys have been working to the point of being ready for these opportunities,” he said. “I knew we’d have a steep hill to climb playing in this tournament — East Hampton, ‘A’ school, East Islip ‘A’ school, powerhouse Southampton — these are all good teams. In order to be the best you have to beat the best. If you’re striving to be good you have to go and put yourselves out there and make yourself vulnerable.
“We’re very fortunate enough to be invited and be able to come to the tournament and accept the opportunity and it was a learning experience.”
More importantly, Bridgehampton won its League V season opener, 54-53, at Smithtown Christian on December 7 in what was a rematch of last season’s Suffolk County Class D Championship. Freshman Alex Davis, who scored 11 points, closed the game out with a clutch steal and another freshman, Jai Feaster, scored a team-high 19 points.
In the days leading up to the game, the Killer Bees got a shot in the arm when Sae’vion Ward transferred back to Bridgehampton after spending some time at Center Moriches. The younger brother of Nae’jon Ward contributed 15 points in the win, but he did miss most of the Kendall Madison Tournament due to a bruised tailbone he suffered early in the first game on Friday night. White said Ward will miss some time, joining what is a somewhat lengthy list of players being injured or sick, but he’s excited to have him on the team.
“Unexpected, but education is education,” White said of Ward’s late addition to the team. “He came back to Bridgehampton and we’re fortunate that we have him.”
Bridgehampton hosted a big game against rival Greenport on Tuesday night. Results of that game were too late to appear in this week’s edition. Bridgehampton was also scheduled to host Shelter Island this Friday night at 6 p.m. and will play at Ross this Monday, December 19, at 4 p.m.
