Heartbreak

Undefeated East Hampton High School Basketball Team Loses

By David Lion Rattiner

And just like that, it’s over. The 20-0 East Hampton High School boys basketball team ended their amazing season with a bitter defeat, losing to John Glenn last Thursday in an upset that destroyed their dream, and the town’s dream for that matter, of winning a Suffolk County championship. At this game, which took place at East Hampton High School, John Glenn scored 62 points and East Hampton scored 53. It is almost like the world turned upside down on East Hampton, which had every reason, every star in alignment and every possible thing in place to win the championship. I couldn’t believe what happened in high school basketball last week.

This article will hurt to write.

The seemingly unstoppable East Hampton team had everything in place to win this semi-final county championship game. They had a plan, they had the skills and they had the confidence, having a record of 20-0 against Glenn’s 15-5 record. And so the loss begs the question, what the hell just happened?

Well, for one, it’s high school basketball and in this sport, anything can happen. From a strategy perspective, East Hampton went into the game knowing that John Glenn had a 6”6’ power house, Ifeanya Momah, who is a lay-up blocking machine and so there was little desire to make plays under the basket.

Coach Ed Petrie, a man who has won more games then any other coach in the state of New York, was fully aware of the monster and went into the game with a reliance on three-point shots from the outside as he had in the past. This was a very clever strategy, especially when you have a seasoned shot maker like Mikey Russell on your team. Unfortunately however, Bonac couldn’t make their three point shots and like a desperate gambler, one missed shot just led to another. Their three-point shooters were simply not on that night, and they made roughly just ten percent of their shots attempted.

To make matters worse during the game, no changes in the game plan were made to adjust to the off night behind the three-point line. During the game one spectator commented, “Don’t worry, they’ll get it. They shoot better than this.”

But the momentum just stayed with John Glenn, who captured it from the very beginning of the game and just never gave it back.

It doesn’t seem right for the season to end this way for East Hampton. Did we get too ahead of ourselves? Or do the basketball gods have a sick sense of humor? I think they have just a sick sense of humor.

Hindsight is 20/20, but besides the fact that John Glenn was not only resoundingly beaten by East Hampton the first time they played, the team that John Glenn is now facing in the finals was also beaten by the Bonackers on two separate occasions by more than 30 points!

An upset I can understand, but learning that John Glenn is going to face Kings Park for the championship since Kings Park upset way better ranked Amityville is like rubbing salt into a wound. The teams facing each other for the final this year just aren’t the best teams and everybody in Suffolk County knows it.

To top all of this off, John Glenn also broke a 37 game home winning streak that East Hampton had over the past three years. Basketball gods, you suck.

But like I said, hindsight is 20/20 and anything can happen in high school basketball. It’s what makes the game interesting. But in this case, it’s just pure heartbreak.

Bonacker fans don’t need to stress out too much though, because East Hampton is a young team with an excellent program and they will be back. Mikey Russell and Marcus Edwards will both be back next year to lead another very strong offense and they will be a force to be reckoned with. This year’s loss at the very end will certainly fuel their game to another level.

In any case, the Bonackers had one heck of a ride this basketball season and one heck of a good time on it.