6 Photos
Hampton Bays senior Jonathan Salas goes up for two points. DREW BUDD
Hampton Bays senior Steven Mora puts up a floater. DREW BUDD
Hampton Bays senior Jonathan Salas drives on a West Islip player. DREW BUDD
Assistant coach John Paga and teammates congratulate Steven Mora after his half-court buzzer beater led to a 54-51 victory over West Islip on Friday night. DREW BUDD
Lucas Brown and other teammates congratulate Steven Mora after his half-court buzzer beater led to a 54-51 victory over West Islip on Friday night. DREW BUDD
Lucas Brown and other teammates congratulate Steven Mora after his half-court buzzer beater led to a 54-51 victory over West Islip on Friday night. DREW BUDD
This may just be the year the Hampton Bays boys basketball team breaks through. At least early returns are suggesting so.
The Baymen, who are seeking to break a seven-year absence from the postseason, are 4-0 to start the season and have won three of their first four games either in overtime or in the waning minutes, or seconds, of regulation. Such was the case on Friday night when they hosted West Islip.
With 4.1 seconds remaining on the clock and the game tied at 51-51, senior Steven Mora took an inbounds pass and heaved what was longer than a half-court shot that banked off the backboard and into the basket, as time expired, giving the Baymen the 54-51 victory. Senior Lucas Brown tied the game at 51 on a three-point play with 1:09 remaining. West Islip had the ball with about 15 seconds left before being called for a travel that turned the ball over to the Baymen and allowed for Mora to come up with his heroics.
Mora finished with a team-high 15 points and also had four assists. Brown just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds. Junior Jack McNamara scored 13 points and had four assists and senior Jonathan Salas finished with 11 points.
Mora said after the game that he practices half-court shots and that his game-winning heave felt pretty good when he released it. He also said that he felt the play that was drawn up broke down quickly, so he had no other choice but to do it himself. Mora also scored the go-ahead basket with 58 seconds remaining in regulation in the Baymen’s season-opening 47-43 victory over Shoreham/Wading River at home on November 26.
“We really wanted this game bad because last year we lost to this team in double overtime,” he said after the win over West Islip. “We feel like we can be real good this season, to be honest. I’m excited for this year … We missed playoffs last year by one game, so this year we’re really going to try and make it.”
Hampton Bays head coach Pete Meehan said he wasn’t so sure of Mora’s decision to deviate from the play that was written up during the timeout, but that was all forgotten once the shot went in.
“We had enough time to run what we were going to run. Steven broke it off and it was one of those no, no, no, yes!’” he explained. “Good for him, good for us. Tough loss for West Islip. We’ll take it though. That’s a special one. That’s one that he remembers forever, and I’ll remember it forever, too. You don’t get a lot of those.”
The Baymen trailed West Islip, 19-9, after the first quarter, but they never let the game get away from them, continually punching back after big shots by the Lions.
“They played hard, the guys that were on the floor,” Meehan said. “I’m disappointed that we haven’t used the bench as much as I would have liked, too. Hopefully, next week we get to do that, but there’s no substitute for playing hard. We were at a decided height disadvantage, which is probably going to be the case all season long. But we were able to overcome that.”
Josh Mangum’s three-pointer as time expired tied the game for Smithtown Christian when the Baymen hosted the Knights on December 2. McNamara made the go-ahead layup with 1:41 remaining in overtime to give Hampton Bays a 57-56 lead that it kept for good. McNamara finished with 10 points and three assists, while senior Jaden Ottati finished with a game-high 27 points and was 9 of 17 from three-point range. Brown finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“Seasons are defined by how you do in the close games. We’ve had three close ones that could have went either way. So good for us, so far. It’s early,” Meehan said.
Hampton Bays defeated Ross, 72-40, on Monday night. It was scheduled to host Bridgehampton this Thursday, December 12, at 4 p.m. before playing at Southold this Saturday, December 14, at noon.
The Baymen’s annual Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, which was typically two days, has been slimmed down to one day this season, featuring one game each for the boys and girls over the upcoming holiday break. The girls will host Wyandanch at 10 a.m. while the boys will host Westhampton Beach at noon, or directly following the girls’ game, on December 28. Proceeds from both games will still go to the American Cancer Society as they have in years past.
