Southampton Tops Pierson in B/C/D Qualifier, Will Play Kings Park in Small Schools Championship

The Southampton boys basketball team has only lost four games all season, one of which was a 77-72 decision in its season opener at Kings Park back on December 2.

The Mariners will have the opportunity to avenge that loss.

After defeating Pierson, 69-52, in the B/C/D Qualifier of the Section XI Tournament at East Hampton High School on Saturday afternoon, the Mariners learned not too soon after that they will face Suffolk County Class A Champion Kings Park in the Small Schools Championship on Tuesday, February 28, at Longwood High School at 6 p.m. in what is a rematch of last year’s game.

The Kingsmen defeated Mount Sinai on Saturday evening for the county ‘A’ title. Southampton had played both teams to open up the season in a tournament Kings Park was hosting and had opportunities to win both games before ultimately losing both.

“We sure had our opportunities to win both games,” Southampton head coach Herm Lamison said after Saturday’s victory. “We’re a lot better, a lot older, a lot smarter than we were back in December, so I expect us to play a better brand of basketball.”

It will certainly help if the Mariners can have their senior standout guard Derek Reed for that game. Reed sprained his ankle a couple of weeks ago in a scrimmage with East Hampton just days before his team’s county final. He was a true game-time decision for that game but ultimately played and helped the Mariners to a county title.

Word after that game, from both Lamison and Reed, was that the guard was going to sit out the rest of the county tournament and not play until Southampton’s next really meaningful game, the Long Island Championship on March 8 at Hofstra University (6 p.m.). But Reed was feeling much better in the days leading up to Saturday’s game and he convinced Lamison to let him give it a go.

And it was Reed who pushed the play from the onset of the game. He breezed to 14 points early in the second quarter with his team leading by eight points, but he seemed to tweak his ankle at the end of a play that forced him to miss much of the second quarter. That left for the Mariners a young tandem of sophomore Naevon Williams and freshman Alex Franklin to lead the team offensively, and they did. Williams swooshed a three with about a minute left in the first half, then after Franklin hit one free throw, Williams finished off the half with a layup that gave Southampton a commanding 37-24 lead on a 6-0 run.

Reed came back on the floor for warm-ups during halftime and started the second half, but held himself back a little bit. Franklin kept the Mariners’ run going with a strong layup that he made even though he was being held. He missed his ensuing free throw, but it didn’t matter much. Southampton continued to pour things on in the third. Tyson Reddick, a sophomore, started hitting his shot, contributing all 11 of his points, which included three three-pointers, in the frame, leading to a lopsided 60-32 score at the end of three.

That score allowed Southampton to take Reed out of the game for the fourth quarter. Pierson, to its credit, didn’t give up and started the fourth on a 9-0 run, and at one point had cut it to a 15-point game with 3:05 remaining, but with bigger games on the horizon for both teams, both coaches decided to unload their benches not soon after.

Reed finished the game with 18 points after scoring 14 points quickly. Williams wound up leading the way for Southampton with 20 points. Franklin matched Reddick’s 11 points.

“Overall, I thought we were good,” Lamison said. “Third quarter into the fourth quarter, we didn’t really finish the game like I thought we should finish the game. I think they made some incredible shots down the stretch … glad it wasn’t a tight game where they’re making those kind of shots.”

“Derek’s been feeling better,” he added. “Swelling is down. He just slipped tonight, tweaked it a little bit, and he still wanted to come back and play. We’ve got time to regroup, get some ice on it.”

Lamison added that he expects Reed to be able to play Tuesday night.

Pierson was led on Saturday by junior Charlie McLean’s 21 points, six of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Fellow junior Luke Seltzer battled some foul trouble early and finished with 14 points while junior Aven Smith scored 10 points.

Now eliminated from the county tournament, Pierson will have to regroup and find a way to stay fresh for its Regional Final, which isn’t until March 10 at Eastport-South Manor High School at 4 p.m. A win in that game would clinch a spot in the New York State Final Four for the second year in a row for the Whalers.

“I got a few different things that we were able to do last year that I’m going to bring in, or things that I kind of want to do differently. But a lot of situational basketball,” Pierson head coach Will Fujita said in preparing for that game. “I know we lost today, but this is great experience for us. I thought that there were moments where we really showed we can compete with a team like Southampton, and there were moments where we showed our youth. But it’s good that we have this film and we can go back and kind of dissect it a little bit.”