Bennett, Mensch Lead Westhampton to First Win Over Amityville in Years

Jorden Bennett and Andrew Mensch’s strong connection off the court has translated to big gains on the court. It was evident in the way they not only looked to, but found each other for easy points under the basket in the Westhampton Beach boys basketball team’s 72-54 win over Amityville on Monday, the program’s first victory over the Warriors in well over a decade.

“We feed off of each other,” said Bennett, who led the Hurricanes with 29 points. “Mensch is my best friend on and off the court. Our energy is crazy when we play together.”

The pair linked up early on when Mensch found Bennett open for an alley oop that pulled Westhampton Beach within three, 8-5, with 4:08 left in the first quarter. After a Mensch steal put the ball in Bennett’s hands, the junior center found his friend this time, who dished the ball to Truman Hahn. The sophomore nailed a three-point shot to help the Hurricanes regain a lead, 14-13, that they would not relinquish.

“Energy plays a huge factor in high school basketball, and that was key for us today,” said Mensch, who added 19 points in the win. “The crowd was big. The bench was bringing it. We are one of the youngest teams in the league, but we’re coming together a lot better than any of us expected, and the newer guys are getting more confident with their shots and on the court in general with a game like this.”

Sophomore Malachi Bullock is one of those. He stole the ball several times, came away with some key blocks and added a couple of buckets driving the lane. The guard hit the back end of a pair of free throws to help the Hurricanes to a 17-15 advantage at the end of the first.

“We are showing that extra effort, and doing those little things is big,” head coach Connor Davis said. “This was a good experience for them, but they’re gamers at the end of the day — they get to loose balls and finish around the rim.”

The coach said he appreciated the pressure Amityville applied, something his 3-0 League IV team hasn’t yet seen. But the Hurricanes kept the tempo up in retaliation. It led not only to intercepted passes, but multiple players came up with blocks as they continued to connect crucial passes for easy points, like when Bennett found senior Isaiah Ortiz before he hit Hahn (10 points) for a bucket that put Westhampton Beach out front, 21-15. Ortiz was rewarded when after a put-in he secured his second straight field goal for a 10-point Hurricanes advantage, 27-17. Westhampton Beach took a 31-24 lead into the locker room because Bennett once again found his 6-2 senior teammate Mensch under the basket.

“We knew that they were a smaller team, so Mensch and I tried to beat them in the paint,” said the 6-5 Bennett. “They were kind of fast, but everyone was out there doing their thing and we sealed it as a team today.”

Five different players recorded points for Westhampton Beach in the first half. Bennett reached double digits with 13. Davis said having experienced players like Suffolk County’s leading scorer (Bennett tops the list with 127 points) and Mensch makes all the difference in a matchup against a team that amassed a 14-9 record last season.

“We look to them to settle guys down and talk to me to let me know what they’re noticing,” the coach said. “They dominated underneath the basket and they did everything we asked them to do. They were looking for each other and sharing the ball and that was big for us.”

Bennett recorded another 10 points in the third quarter, including two off a dunk, and came down with a block as Westhampton Beach stretched its lead to 12, 52-40, at the end of the stanza. Mensch added seven in the final quarter, and made his last bucket off another Hahn-to-Bennett connection before the power forward was dished the ball. He planted himself as a defender jumped ahead of him before going for the layup. Bennett iced it with his last of five blocks.

“Knowing Amityville made it pretty far last year, we were definitely seen as the underdogs in this,” Bennett said. “We didn’t win many games, so we’ve got to show people how different this team is from last year, and I’m glad we came in and did that.”

Davis said while he’s proud of the solid performance by his group, he also now knows what needs to be cleaned up as the team looks ahead. Westhampton Beach has now secured four straight wins and has two nonleague games over the winter break before traveling to Hauppauge for its first match of the new year on January 3.

“They worked really hard and were amped up for this one. They did a great job, and I’m proud of them,” Davis said. “We struggled last year, and this is building our confidence up — we’re proving to ourselves that not only can we win games, but we can do it against good opponents.”

Bennett said he foresees a lot of that for the Hurricanes in the future.

“We’re coming together better than we even thought, and I want to put us on the map,” he said. “We’re shocking a lot of people, and I think we’re going to continue to shock a lot of teams. We’re going to go far.”