12 Photos
Senior Whaler Charlie McLean scored 15 points in the loss to Northport which included some threes. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson senior Aidan Schmitz keeps an eye on the Northport player he's tracking. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson senior Keanu King goes up and under to score. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson senior Charlie McLean claps a shot off the backboard for a block. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson junior Henry Butler fends off a Northport player. RON ESPOSITO
Senior Whaler Luke Seltzer scored a game-high 27 points in the loss to Northport. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson senior Luke Seltzer puts up a shot. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson senior Lance Schroeder keeps the ball moving on offense. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson's Luke Seltzer is about to be fouled as he goes up for two points. RON ESPOSITO
Pierson's Luke Seltzer RON ESPOSITO
Keanu King takes on Northport's big man. RON ESPOSITO
Aidan Schmitz brings the ball up for the Whalers. RON ESPOSITO
The biggest loss for the Pierson basketball team over the break came in the unfortunate form of a player.
In the Whalers’ League VI opener at Bayport-Blue Point on December 20, senior and leading scorer Aven Smith grabbed a rebound and landed perfectly fine, but the Bayport player also going up for the rebound came down hard onto another player’s foot, who then subsequently fell into Smith’s locked knee. Smith tried to stay on the court, but he couldn’t go on.
As it turned out, Smith, who was averaging 18 points per game, tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
Pierson head coach Dan White said he was in disbelief when he found out Smith had suffered a season-ending injury. For the past eight years, carrying over from his time at East Hampton, White has lost a key starter to a season-ending injury.
“The streak continues,” White said, as he tried to make light of the situation following his team’s 67-57 loss to Northport in the first game of the Smithtown East Tournament on December 27. “It’s been eight straight years where a starter has been out for a year for me. The odds of that happening to one coach have to be astronomically low, but here we are. At this point, it feels like it’s just a curse. And I told them when I came here, I warned them, someone’s going down.
“It’s tough that it’s Aven because not only was he getting 18 a game, but he’s just a great kid,” he added. “All he cares about is shooting. It’s almost like a disease for him. All he did was shoot, and now he’s done. It’s sad, very sad.”
On top of the loss of Smith, the Whalers lost that game at Bayport, 73-46, which evened their League VI record to 1-1. After suffering the loss to Northport last week, Pierson traveled back to Smithtown East where it lost, 62-52, to the host. After his team’s loss to Northport, White didn’t seem too upset with the overall outcomes of either game of the tournament, and was more concerned with how his team played overall, which he was “ecstatic” about.
Not only did Pierson not have Smith after his injury, but it was without starting senior guard Dom Mancino, who was away on vacation, for the game against Northport. That meant, White said, that a few players were going to have to step up, and they did. Keanu King, a senior, and Henry Butler, a junior, both played great defensively, and Matthew Greenwall also contributed as well. Senior Luke Seltzer continued to put the team on his back after scoring 27 points against Northport and 29 against Smithtown East. Charlie McLean scored 15 against Northport and White said he probably played his best game defensively as well. Mancino returned against Smithtown East and scored 13 points.
“Our guards are getting better,” White said. “Without Dominick, they had to do more. Keanu was spectacular on the ball defensively. Henry Butler, same thing. Matt Greenwald made some nice buckets, so there’s some pieces there.
“Our four through nine, we might as well play them all and have them play hard because they’re basically all the same,” he added. “That’s a good thing for practice. They’re good kids and they’re fun to be around.”
White’s focus was on his team’s upcoming league game at Mattituck, which was January 3. Two days later on Friday, Pierson will host its annual Spirit Night, with the girls getting things underway first with a game at 5 p.m. against Shelter Island. The boys will follow with their game against Center Moriches.
With only four Class B teams in the county this season — Babylon, Mattituck, Pierson and Port Jefferson — White said Babylon is probably the most cause for concern, but noted Port Jeff just got Longwood transfer Joe Vitrano and has led the Royals in scoring two of the four games he’s played for them thus far.
“Babylon is probably the best ‘B,’ but [Mattituck head coach Paul Ellwood] is probably one of the best coaches in Suffolk, so he’ll be right there, and Port Jeff just got a transfer from Longwood who hit seven threes in a game against Shoreham. If teams are getting players and I’m losing players, then I don’t know. But we should be okay.”
