Dan's Papers - March 14, 2008

It has been a long time coming for the East Hampton High School Boy's Basketball team. Loaded with talent, the team has come incredibly close to winning the County title game played at Stony Brook University for the past three years. The disappointing loss last year, however, has made this year's Class A championship win that much sweeter. That's right, you read correctly, I just said Class A, as in all of Long Island, not just Suffolk County.

Welcome home fellas, enjoy your championship because this doesn't come along very often. This writer has been dying to type the words "East Hampton basketball team is the Suffolk County champion" for the past two years. Well this year, I get to say Class A, and that rolls off the tongue even better.

In front of 2,500 people at the Old Westbury arena, the Bonackers showed what they were made of. With Mike Russell, Jerome Russell, Hayden Ward, Marcus Edwards and the rest of the crew putting in everything they had, and coach Ed Petrie, their coach since they were all freshmen, supporting them, the team turned their dream into a reality.

In an ironic twist compared to last year's County attempt, the key to winning last Saturday against the Jericho Jayhawks was shutting down their 3-point game. Doing this was key because the Jayhawks are widely regarded as Long Island's best 3-point team with a sniper scope shooter named Matt Cajuste. With Petrie's science-like coaching skills, the Bonackers moved from a zone defense to a match-up zone, which made shooting 3-pointers much more difficult, if not impossible for the Jayhawks. In frustration, their star player began racking up fouls, and found himself sitting out of the game for more then 10 minutes as he watched his team get picked apart by the Bonackers.

The Bonackers' offensive game couldn't be stopped, solidifying them as the clear leader after overcoming some opening game 3-pointers by the Jayhawks that put them behind on the boards. Jerome Russell led the team with 22 points, followed by Marcus Edwards with 16 points, Hayden Ward with 15 points, Mike Russell with 8 points and Jarred Bowe with 2 points. The final score at the buzzer was East Hampton 63, Jericho 48.

In an absolute eruption, the die-hard East Hampton fans gave a standing ovation as everybody including teachers, students, assistants, coaches and alumni attended the game to show their support.

"What a fabulous game," said Priscilla Campbell, the President of the East Hampton Teacher's Association.

Accomplishing everything that they had hoped for and redeeming themselves after last year's loss, the Bonackers, even after all of their success, continue to look ahead and will have the honor of competing at the state level. On March 15, they will battle Buffalo East for the state semifinal.

Knowing this team, their focus is now on winning the state championship, but until then, we'll take having East Hampton basketball as the best team on Long Island.