Bridgehampton Boys Basketball Team's Season Ends With Loss To Chapel Field In Class D Regional Semifinal

The Chapel Field Christian School boys basketball team, and its girls team for that matter, never play an actual home game, being that it doesn’t have a regulation-sized gym at its Pine Bush campus. The small practice gym the school uses has walls abutting its sidelines, and when it’s not being used as a gym, it doubles as the school’s cafeteria.

So the Chapel Field boys were on the road once again on Tuesday, this time making the three hour or so trip to Westhampton Beach High School to take on Bridgehampton in the Class D Regional Semifinal. And the Lions showed no ill effects from the long trek.

Chapel Field defeated Bridgehampton, 56-47, to advance to the Regional Final this Friday against South Kortright Central, with a berth into the New York State Final Four on the line in that game. While the loss certainly stung for the young Killer Bees squad, which features a pair of eighth-graders and three juniors in its starting lineup, head coach Ron White explained that being that it was the first time this group had been this deep in the postseason, youth certainly showed at times on the court.

“I think it was a learning experience and I think we are encouraged that the future is bright for us,” he said. “I think there were a lot of takeaways that we could chew on when we get back home and keep the hunger for next year. I think we’re on to something here.”

Bridgehampton started the game cold from the floor, leading to its 17-8 deficit after the first quarter, but it went on a quick 7-0 run in the second that pulled it within two points at 19-17. The Lions, though, responded with a long 12-0 run the began in the final minutes of the first half and extended deep into the third, leading to a 31-17 lead.

With about 1:45 remaining in the third quarter, Bridgehampton eighth-grader Alex Davis drove hard to the basket and scored, ending the long scoring drought for the Bees, and from that point on they were back in the game. Both Davis and fellow eighth-grader Jai Feaster were scoring at will at times in the fourth quarter, but the problem was that Chapel Field was in the bonus quite early, and for every basket the eighth-grade duo would score, the Lions, mainly their leading scorer Jonah McDuffie (game-high 27 points), would go to the free throw line and keep the Bees at bay just enough.

Feaster fouled out with 1:58 remaining in the game, and from that point, the Bees just didn’t have enough firepower to mount any more of a comeback. Feaster left the game with a team-high 18 points. Davis, who finished with 16, combined with Feaster to score 18 of Bridgehampton’s 20 points in the final quarter, and while it wasn’t enough on Tuesday night, the pair are certainly a bright spot going forward.

“We all fought well. Eighth-graders, the juniors, everyone fought well to try and put it together,” White said of his team. “Chapel Field kept pressing, kept going the entire time, they didn’t stop. They were well coached, they could pass well, they were scrappy on the boards, they ran the court — they did everything well today.

“We were so anxious and wanting it so bad, I think that we kind of overshot it, instead of just being focused and relaxing and breathing.”

One thing White has said since taking over the program from his mentor and longtime coach Carl Johnson, is that he will never get on his players for taking shots, good or bad, and committing turnovers. Both are a part of the game, but it seemed as if his players forgot that, he said.

“Missed shots are there, turnovers are there, that happens, that’s part of the game, and I think that we took that a little more hard than we should have,” he explained. “It’s a basketball game and it’s a game of runs and they did a push and we did a push. We got to understand that that’s life. Life is ups and downs, life is runs and defeats, and you got to continue to breathe, pick up on the good things, tighten up on the bad things.”

Each player on the team is expected back next season, and with what was their first county title for many of them now accomplished, the Bees can look ahead for bigger and better things.

“I commend my team,” he said. “I thank God for this opportunity, being able to give back to the Bridgehampton community in this capacity. I don’t take this charge lightly. There is a long pedigree of winning tradition. Killer Bees are here and we’re going to do our best to kind of live up to Killer Bees and what we do — black and gold.”