Bridgehampton Boys Basketball Is Set To Make Postseason Run

While most teams are collecting their uniforms come March, the Bridgehampton boys basketball team’s playoff run is just starting.The Killers Bees were awarded the Suffolk County Class D title by Section XI, the governing body of Suffolk County high school athletics, after they went undefeated in four regular season games against their only Class D competition, Shelter Island and Smithtown Christian. Bridgehampton went 8-4 in League VIII, which is composed of Class C and D schools, and 8-10 overall.Bridgehampton head coach Ron White said that he and his players would have liked to have played for their county championship.“It makes the layover [between games] that much less, and that [Class D] plaque was given to us. It would have been nice to have played a game and hoist up that plaque, but we got a banner out of it either way so we’ll take it,” he explained.A week after being named Class D champs, and nearly two weeks from their regular-season finale, the Bees played in the Section XI C/D Qualifier on February 20 at Suffolk County Community College in Selden. Although Bridgehampton lost, 67-41, to Class C Champion Greenport, it was a much better showing for the Bees in what was their third matchup with the Porters this season. Elijah White led the team with 13 points.“I think Greenport was a good test and it was good to see what direction we were going,” White said. “The guys were eager to get back out on the court.”Bridgehampton has its regional semifinal scheduled for Monday, March 5, at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood at 7 p.m. against the Section IX (Orange, Sullivan, Ulster counties) Champion. Livingston Manor and Roscoe were set to play for the section title on Wednesday night.Livingston Manor may sound familiar because it has had multiple faceoffs with Bridgehampton over the past few years, the latest coming in 2015, when the Bees, backed by Charles Manning Jr., Tylik Furman and Josh Lamison, defeated the Wildcats to clinch a berth into the New York State Class D Final Four. White, in his first season since taking over for longtime head coach Carl Johnson, has a feeling the two teams will face off again, but either way, he feels his team is coming together nicely down the final stretch of the season.“I think the guys are starting to believe in themselves, they’re playing for each other and not playing for themselves,” he said. “They’re spending more time together and you can tell there’s a bond that has been created.“The coaches, I think we’ve elevated our games a little bit in challenging them a little bit more, and we feel pretty confident.”Bridgehampton got a nice boost when sophomore Nae’Jon Ward decided to return to the district after starting the school year at Southampton. In his first game back at The Hive on January 26 against Southold, Ward scored 14 points and helped open things up for junior J.P. Harding, who scored 38 points in what was, at that point, the highest scoring output for Bridgehampton in the 87-76 victory.The return of Ward, White said, frees up other players to do what they are more accustomed to doing. He said sophomore Elijah White, his son, and Harding are able to play more to their strengths, which opens things up for juniors Jonny Degroot and Nat Depasquale and sophomore Will Walker.“He’s a great player, so long as we can get his motor constantly going...” White said of Ward. “He has all the talent, but if we can create a bigger engine in him, the sky is the limit for that guy.“Now, as far as the team goes, Bridgehampton is home for that kid,” he continued. “The kids love him, I think he loves 
his teammates, and when he 
got in there it was like he 
never left. He’s helped us tremendously.”