With Everyone Back, Bridgehampton Boys Basketball Is Set To Try To Make Another Deep Playoff Run

Given its pedigree, the Bridgehampton boys basketball team’s run last season, in which it won its first Suffolk County title since 2019 and reached the state’s Regional Semifinals, wasn’t necessarily a surprise.

At the same time, it all may have come a year ahead of schedule, considering where the Killer Bees themselves expected to be, being that they were so young, with three juniors and a pair of eighth-graders in their starting lineup.

After suffering a 56-47 loss to Chapel Field in that Regional Semifinal, Bridgehampton head coach Ron White said his team undertook some deep reflection, watching film not just from that game but from throughout the season — and has come into this season hungrier than ever.

“Last year, that Chapel Field game was probably the biggest game any of our kids had played in, in terms of implications, the crowd, playing against a team they were not familiar with,” White explained. “We kind of beat ourselves and realized that it’s the little things you do throughout the season that come back and bite you. All the little things we had overlooked kind of got us to that point and made us a little more hungry.

“Now we know what to expect. Ultimately, our goal is to play consistent basketball and build off the success we had last year.”

The Killer Bees are returning the entire team from last season — a rarity in this day and age — and they have added three freshmen to the team. Leading the way are three seniors, twin brothers Kris and Scott Vinski, and Dylan Fitzgerald. All three were a part of some of the leanest years the program has seen when they were freshmen and have helped the team grow back into a perennial playoff contender.

And, as their head coach noted, they’ll be looking to finish off their high school playing careers on a high note.

They’ll have their pair of freshman guards to rely on once again in Alex Davis and Jai Feaster. Both were relied on heavily last season as eighth-graders — Feaster wound up leading the team in scoring in both the county championship win and the Regional Semifinal loss.

Jai’s older brother, Mikhail, a junior, is also returning and will continue to provide the team with some solid rebounding, which will be key for what is still an undersized team overall.

“We can’t be the smallest and the slowest team. We already have a disadvantage when teams are much older and much bigger, so we have to use our skills to be gritty, push the ball — run and gun — get back to Bridgehampton basketball,” White said.

“We’ve always been a program that has been undersized. So to be successful, we have to play hard-nosed defense, push the ball up, get back to having a lot of energy, a lot of speed and moving the ball. That’s our only chance at success. Have to get more transition points. Being undersized makes it difficult to dominate on rebounds so we must box out. Whether the team scores or not, we have to push the ball down the court.”

Also rejoining the team this season are all of the reserves from last season, including senior Jack Boeshore, junior Evan Buccuigross, and sophomores George Caguana and Marquis Thomas. The three new freshmen on the team this season are Adrian Molina, Tyler Fitzgerald, who is Dylan’s younger brother, and Deyber Cabanas.

Bridgehampton will play in League V this season, which, as in years past, will include Class B, C and D schools. Class B schools Babylon, Center Moriches, Mattituck and Southampton and Class C schools Pierson, Port Jefferson and Southold all will play in the league.

But Bridgehampton only will have to worry about fellow “D” schools when it comes to playoffs, which now includes longtime rival Greenport, which has moved down from Class C, along with Smithtown Christian, which had defeated the Bees twice during the regular season before the Bees got the best of them in the county championship. Ross and Shelter Island make up the rest of the league and class.

Bridgehampton opened its season with a nonleague game at Hampton Bays on Wednesday night and will play at Smithtown Christian this Wednesday, December 7, before playing in the Kendall Madison Tip-Off Classic at East Hampton High School next weekend.

“We should expect a dog fight with any team we play this year,” White said. “Smithtown Christian has always pushed us. We were able to get a win over them in the county championship, but we know they’re going to come back bigger and stronger, so we have to be ready for them.

“We just have to focus on what we can control, and what we can control is going out, working hard, trying to play consistent,” he added. “I think if we can do that, we’ll be proud of ourselves, not necessarily in terms of wins or losses, but playing a good brand of Bridgehampton basketball.”

Of his own role, White said, “I have to make sure I make proper adjustments when the game calls for it. I have to make sure I’m prepared. My job is to get these guys open shots — their job is to make the open shots. So just make sure we’re keying in on those decisions.”