Roller Coaster Season Closes For Mariners Basketball

After a hot 4-0 start to the season, the Southampton boys basketball team hit a slump this past week, falling to 4-2 after losses to Wyandanch and Shoreham-Wading River.

Head coach Herm Lamison said his team “laid an egg” in an uncharacteristically lopsided 75-55 loss at Shoreham on Monday night.

“It was just not a good night,” he said, adding that it had been a long time since he’s watched one of his teams struggle in that way.

The loss came three days after the Mariners were edged out, 71-63, at home against Wyandanch.

“In that one, we had opportunities,” he said. “We got down early in the game and had to climb back into it, but we just didn’t have enough to keep climbing back.”

The losses put Southampton in a precarious position to emerge as one of the top two teams in the league, which would have earned them a spot in the four-team conference playoffs. The Mariners would have needed to beat league powerhouse Center Moriches (5-0, 7-1) on February 24 for a chance at the shortened postseason, but that game was cancelled mid-week due to a COVID case in Southampton. Therefore, the boys season is over.

Southampton was missing starting shooting guard Sinai Faggins, who was out with an injury, for the recent losses, which didn’t help. Lamison said he wasn’t interested in making excuses for the defeats, but did acknowledge what many coaches have been saying from the start — that, while they were grateful they were given the chance to play, the season has been unprecedented in the way obstacles were present at nearly every turn.

“It’s been challenging to even prepare and have a season,” he said. “The first time we were back in the gym and heard the balls bouncing and the kids talking, it was a refreshing feeling for the kids. But knowing what we had to go through to get on the floor, it was just very challenging.”

Southampton will lose only two seniors to graduation, in sharp-shooters Matt Silverberg and Steven Kryzewski

The frustrations and challenges have been even more acute for the Lady Mariners who, as of Tuesday, February 23, had played just two games—a 44-31 home loss to Elwood/John Glenn on February 21, and a 46-26 loss at Wyandanch on February 19. Their season got off to a slow start after a player on their team tested positive for COVID, forcing several postponements as the team was required to quarantine. The Lady Mariners were set to play Shoreham on Monday night, only to see that game postponed because a Shoreham player tested positive.

Southampton was also scheduled to visit Center Moriches on February 24, but that game was canceled after a Center Moriches player tested positive for COVID.

Head coach Richard “Juni” Wingfield was working on replacing the Center Moriches game with a nonleague game with Hampton Bays, though no date has been set, and to possibly schedule a nonleague matchup at Amityville on Friday.

Wingfield said he liked the fight and competitive spirit he saw from his team in both losses, and said he achieved what was his main goal for the season — making sure every player had a chance to see time on the floor. He said his team motto for the year has been “cooperation before competition,” and he added that his team played strong man-to-man defense against a talented Glenn squad in the loss.