Bridgehampton Defeats Loudonville Christian To Advance to State Championship

When Alex Davis and Jai Feaster were brought up to the Bridgehampton boys basketball team as seventh-graders, there were high expectations put on their shoulders. They were going to lead the next generation of Killer Bees to their next state championship.

Five years later, and the two junior standouts are on the precipice of doing just that.

Although Davis and Feaster needed a total team effort from their teammates, the Bees defeated Loudonville Christian (Section II-Capital District), 63-53, in the New York State Class D semifinals on Friday to advance to the championship against Panama (Section VI-Western New York) on Saturday (see separate story). Panama defeated Sackets Harbor (Section III-Central New York), 74-53, in the other semifinal that proceeded Bridgehampton’s victory.

“It was a dream since I was a little kid, watching Charles Manning and them in 2015,” Feaster said after Friday morning’s win. “Maybe I was in first or second grade, but I dreamed of this day since I was a little boy and to be here, to have a chance to win a trophy means a lot to me. I take this very seriously and I hope to bring the trophy home.”

Just like it did in its Regional Final victory over Eldred on March 15, Bridgehampton got off to a great start against Loudonville Christian, staking itself to a 7-0 lead and keeping the Eagles off the board for the game’s first 4:35. But once they got going, they proved they had a potent offense as well, and closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to trail the Bees, 11-8, and maintained that lead through the first half, 28-25.

Bridgehampton head coach Carl Johnson said after the game that he thought his team took Loudonville a little too lightly early on.

“I really think they thought it was going to be an easy game,” he said. “They see games differently than coaches. They see a team that’s out there that they didn’t think they could shoot. I saw a team that’s a scrappy defensive team. And then we get off to a good start and that also didn’t help in a sense because they’re stuck thinking it was going to be an easy game.

“Like I told them, you’ve got to respect everybody,” Johnson added. “They won the same exact things we won — a sectional, a regional — so they’re champions and we need to respect them.”

After Feaster drained a three-pointer to make it 36-27 Bees, early in the third, it appeared they might start to take the game over. But on the very next play, Jack Bibighaus (team-high 17 points) completed an and-one in which Feaster committed his fourth foul with 4:20 remaining in the third. Meanwhile, sophomore starter Xavier Johnson was on the sidelines being looked at by the team’s trainer.

With both starters out, Bridgehampton was going to need players to step up, and they did. Freshman Eddie Dawson IV made some crucial baskets, finishing with 8 points that were all scored in the second and third quarters.

“I trusted my teammates and they believe in me, too,” Dawson said. “All season, I’ve been hearing ‘next man up.’ I always have to be prepared mentally.”

To Johnson’s credit, he eventually came back into the game and supplied the team with strong minutes, drawing fouls and getting to the line. He finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

“I’m going to do what I have to do — hustle, get all the rebounds, all the loose balls, dive on the ground,” he said.

Davis and Feaster’s eyes lit up when Dawson’s name was brought up after the game.

“Watch out for Eddie. He’s coming,” Davis said.

Suffering a slight injury early on, limiting him to six first-half points, and then foul trouble early in the second half, Feaster, who still managed to finish with 14 points and six assists, gave all the credit to his teammates for picking him up. He said that many of them seemed to have really been stepping it up lately.

“They know their positions now, they’re all over the place and have been very helpful at this point,” he said. “I don’t see them as second string anymore. I see them as sixth man, seventh man, eighth man, real substitutions, not just people you have in the game as fill ins.”

Back-to-back baskets by Davis, who paced the Bees with game-high 18 points, half of which came in the fourth quarter, pushed the lead to the biggest of the game, 45-32, late in the third. But Loudonville once again closed out the frame on a 9-0 run to make it a five-point game, 45-41.

Feaster reentered the game in the fourth at which point both teams became stagnant. Neither team was making baskets, keeping the game status quo more than halfway through. One of the things that the Bees struggled with the entire game was making free throws. They were 1 for 7 in the first half, 8 for 18 in the second half, making for a 9 for 25 game overall from the line. Coach Johnson said, “You know what we’ll be working on for the next 24 hours,” after the game.

That being said, the Bees made the free throws they needed in the game’s final two minutes, staving off a spirited Loudonville team.

The players agreed with their coach’s assessment that they may have underestimated their opponents.

“We definitely took them too lightly,” Xavier Johnson said. “Tomorrow, we come out with a different aggression. It is easier said than done. Every game is a fight up here.”

“We’re ready,” Feaster said. “It doesn’t matter what happens, if we’re not getting calls we want, don’t like the court, we don’t like the ball. We’re going to play to win and play our hardest.”