McCormack, Hahn Help Lead Westhampton Beach Boys Basketball to Victory Over Rocky Point

The Truman Show was a big part of the Westhampton Beach boys basketball team’s 63-54 home victory over Rocky Point on Thursday, January 26.

In his very first varsity game, freshman Truman Hahn scored 14 points, including four three-pointers, each being a thorn in the Eagles’ side. That led to what was a bit of a vengeful victory for the Hurricanes, who had lost at Rocky Point on a buzzer-beating layup in their first League IV game of the season on December 13.

Hahn made an immediate impact when he entered last week’s game in the second quarter, almost immediately scoring five points, including his first three, in a first half that Westhampton Beach dominated, leading, 35-21, by halftime.

But even under pressure, with Rocky Point cutting its double-digit deficit to single digits in the third quarter, Hahn came through time and time again. His three with 1:15 remaining in the third pushed the Hurricanes’ lead back to 14 at 49-35.

Hahn was one of four Hurricanes to reach double digits in scoring, with senior Quinn McCormack leading the team with 18 points. Avery Merrihew, a senior, chipped in 11 points, which included a big offensive rebound and layup in the fourth quarter as Rocky Point mounted another comeback. Sophomore Jorden Bennett finished with 10 points, making four of the ’Canes six free throws in the fourth, and also included a big two-handed dunk as time expired for the game.

“It was great,” Hahn said of his first varsity game. “I’ve been injured all year, I’ve only played three games on JV. I got my shot, and I guess played pretty good.

“He’s literally only been here two days and he’s our second leading scorer on the team for the game. It’s huge,” McCormack said. “His shot allowed us to spread the floor out ridiculously.”

Westhampton Beach first-year head coach Connor Davis explained that with junior Andrew Mensch nursing a knee injury, sustained in the team’s double overtime 60-56 loss at home to Shoreham-Wading River just two nights prior, the team needed shooters so they decided to call up Hahn to take his place.

“Truman, too, has been banged up all year, but the biggest thing I told him was nerves,” he said. “I know a freshman in his first game he’s going to have some nerves. I just told him go hoop, go play basketball. If you’re open, shoot it. He got hot, knocked down the first shot that he touched. I’m super proud of him, he’s probably super excited and nervous right now, but it was a good experience for him.”

It was also a big night for the program with Westhampton Beach honoring the 25th anniversary of its 1997-1998 boys basketball team that finished a perfect 28-0 en route to winning Class B federation and state titles. A number of players and coaches from that team were in attendance for last week’s game, and it was clear from the onset that the Hurricane players did not want to disappoint, jumping out to a 20-5 lead to start the game.

Both Davis and McCormack said last week’s game was a huge test of how far the team has come from the beginning of the season. Davis said it all comes down to being calm and composed down the final stretch of games.

“Our big mantra this year is poise,” Davis said. “We knew we were going to be in tight games, we have been in tight games — four overtime games this year — poise is the biggest thing we talk about, battling through adversity. We know teams are going to make runs, it’s how we battle through that and stay within the game. Especially toward the end. I felt like we did a great job of that. We went possession by possession, defensive stop by defensive stop, rebounding. Again, credit to them for battling through, making those free throws at the end of the game. I think we made all six of our foul shots at the end and that’s something we work on every day in practice, so it was good to see.”

One of the biggest reasons why assistant coach Ron Gholson put together the 25th anniversary for the 97-98 squad was to inspire today’s players. Although the ’Canes, at 3-8 in League IV play, 6-10 overall, with three games remaining, won’t be making the postseason this year, they think their future is bright, and maybe last week was the start of a big turnaround for the program.

“I think this team has a great future,” McCormack said. “New coaching staff, and all the players that are coming up, they really built a program here.

“I know throughout middle school, JV, varsity, we’re trying to reestablish a culture of winning and bringing that back here,” Davis said. “How we conduct ourselves on the court, in school, believing in this basketball program. Shout out to Coach Ron, my assistants Corey Gaudiello and Shaki Edwards, they’ve been here all offseason. We worked hard trying to develop guys that really want to play basketball. Last year, we had a couple of basketball guys and now we seem to have a lot more guys who just love the game, so I do think the future is very bright. We still have a lot of work to do but I’m excited about working with these guys. They’re passionate about it, and I’m looking forward to the future.”