Varsity boys feel the sting

Senior Doug Binder shoots for two against the Bridgehampton Killer Bees at home on Tuesday.

After losing to Bridgehampton on January 8 in a brutal 73-40loss, Tuesday’s rematch gave the Indians a chance to redeemthemselves. And they seemed determined to, right from thestart.

“We started off real strong, said Coach Michael Mundy. “That’sthe way we are capable of playing. The Indians kept the ball movingfluidly across the court in the first quarter, and quick passeskept the Bridgehampton defense guessing.

At 2:43 in the first quarter, senior Mike Mundy drove the ballto the paint, then passed it out to Connor Needham who hit a3-pointer that got the crowd on its feet. But Cesar Banados ofBridgehampton answered back with a jump shot to put 2 points on theboard for the Bees.

A minute later, Andrew BeltCappellino hooked a bounce passaround a Bridgehampton defender to Mundy, who sank a 3-pointer ofhis own. With strong offensive pressure and good rebounding fromDustin Mulcahy, things were looking good for the Indians as theyclosed out the first quarter with a 17-14 lead.

But two consecutive Bridgehampton 3-pointers midway through thesecond quarter allowed the Bees to jump ahead and seemed to takethe wind out of the Indians’ sails. Despite a beautiful pass fromMundy that allowed BeltCappellino to sink a jumper, and a quicksteal by Doug Binder that turned into 2 points, it looked like thetide had turned in the Bee’s favor as they began to rack up thepoints. The Bees sank a total of four 3-pointers that quarter andscored 18 points. They ended the half with a 32-26 lead.

As the game wore on, Shelter Island’s passes started to losetheir edge, and Bridgehampton made steal after steal to setthemselves up for easy layups.

The Indians remained scoreless for the first four minutes of thethird quarter, until Mundy sank a free throw after stealing a balland getting fouled on his fast break to the net. The Indians’ onlypoints that quarter were four foul shots from Mundy and a jump shotfrom James Michael Cogan.

The Bees put up 19 points and ended the third quarter with a51-35 lead.

During the fourth quarter, the Bees effectively wound down theclock, squashing any hope of an Indian comeback. The Bees’ AinsleyWyche was able to dribble the ball around the court for almost 30seconds before taking a shot. The Indians also started to get intofoul trouble and gave the Bees 10 free throw opportunities in thesecond half.

Despite their foul difficulties, the Indians made an impressiveshowing at the line, sinking 10 of their 14 free throws.

Mundy led the team in scoring with 15 points, followed closelybehind by Binder, who put up 10. “Doug came out real strong for us,said Coach Mundy. Binder and Mundy both had a few steals thatturned into extra points for the Indians. “Connor [Needham] lookedgood in the first half, he added.

Still, Coach Mundy was on the whole unsatisfied with the team’sperformance: “We’re capable of much more than this, he said afterthe game.

It was their second loss in a row after they fell to StonyBrook, 73-48, last Friday.

The boys’ next game is today, at Southold. JV tips off at 4p.m., varsity at 5:45.