East Hampton Boys Basketball Eyes Postseason Berth; Brooks Returns as Girls Head Coach

There’s excitement brewing around the East Hampton boys basketball team this winter. With a now seasoned-group of players in the second year of Dave Conlon’s system, the Bonackers are poised to make a run at the Suffolk County Class AA playoffs. But as Conlon noted this past weekend, it’s going to take a mindset change to completely buy in.

“If we can gel together as a team defensively, and really make an effort on that side, then I think we have a chance to be a playoff team and beyond,” he said. “But we have to get out of the mentality of just outscoring teams and resting on our laurels offensively. There are too many teams up island, and even locally, that guard. And if we’re not willing to guard and think we can just go up and down the court and win like that, we could be in for a rude awakening.”

Carter Dickinson was the only senior to graduate last season, and Conlon said his absence is definitely going to be felt, if not on the court, than missing his leadership and ability to really push the team. Colin Kelley, who missed most of last season with an injury, opted to not come out for the team to focus more on golf.

The coaching staff has seen a little bit of a temporary overhaul as Conlon is now joined by Bonac alum Ryan Bono, who is taking Thomas Nelson’s spot as assistant coach. Nelson is taking some time to spend with his newborn baby. Greg Condon has also joined the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.

With Dickinson being the only key departure, that leaves four of the five starters returning, headlined by seniors Toby Foster and Mason Jefferson and juniors Miles Menu and Tyler Persan, the latter of whom will miss a few weeks with a sprained ankle.

“Toby is an All-County player coming back with aspirations to play in college, and it’s not just about scoring points with him,” Conlon said. “He wants to help us win games more so than the points. And he’s willing to do anything it takes to win. We’ve already seen him start to dial in defensively, and we’re going to lean on him to play up on both sides of the court. When you try to make a mindset change, it really starts with your strongest player. So if it can come from him, it should trickle down to everyone else.”

Menu, Persan and Jack Mooney all stand well above 6 feet tall and provide the Bonackers with some really good size that they’re going to need playing in a competitive League IV. Trevor Meehan hasn’t played organized basketball in a few years, but the senior wanted to give the sport one last try and Conlon likes the level of toughness he brings to the team, similar to how his former baseball teammate in Dickinson used to.

“He’ll add something to our defensive identity and something we’ll need our seniors to lead us in that direction,” Conlon said. “Depending on who we’re playing will dictate our pace of play, but we don’t really want to play these high scoring games in the 70s or 80s. We’re looking more for the 40s, 50s and 60s. With our bigs, we’re just not built to sustain those fast-paced, up-and-down games. We have the guards who can run, but we need to strike that balance.”

Irakli Shiolashvili is a 6-foot-plus senior guard whose Eastern European background makes him a nice addition to the team, Conlon said. Jackson Carney, a junior, should contribute considerably more minutes this season and senior Aaron Brito is a smaller guard but athletic and has good defensive instincts, Conlon said. Sam Vargas is a bit taller, but fits that same mold; senior Dylan Pitts is a strong shooter.

Junior Liam Wilson is making the move up from junior varsity, and Conlon said he’s more of a traditional point guard who can set up and help organize the offense. Patrick Conlon, a junior also up from JV and the coach’s son, gives the team depth in the front court with his 6-foot-4-inch frame. He can rebound well and block shots. Juniors Bodie Cullen and Zane Karoussos round out the roster.

As big as East Hampton is, it played its first scrimmage in Bay Shore recently and the Marauders were even bigger, with legitimate 6-foot-8-inch players and dynamic athlete guards. But Conlon gave his team credit for sticking with them for what was six quarters of play.

“When we walked in, they didn’t expect much competition from us. But I think we really held our own and played with some good pace,” he said. “We slowed it down when we needed to, picked it up when we needed to. Although it was just a scrimmage, I was happy with it.”

The Bonackers will play in League IV this season with fellow Class AA teams Comsewogue, East Islip, Eastport-South Manor, Half Hollow Hills West, Harborfields, Islip, Hauppauge, West Islip and Westhampton Beach. After opening the league schedule at Islip on December 10, East Hampton will look to defend its title in its annual Kendall Madison Tip-Off Classic that will begin on December 12 and conclude the next day. Bridgehampton, Mattituck and Rocky Point will be playing in that tournament. The Bonackers will once again compete in the Mariner Athletic Club Holiday Classic at Southampton High School with host Southampton, Bridgehampton and league foe Westhampton Beach.

Brooks Back on Bench
for Bonac Girls

Krista Brooks, who coached East Hampton varsity girls basketball up through the COVID years, but had most recently coached junior varsity, is now back with varsity after Samantha James stepped down in the offseason. She has already confirmed that this will be the final season the team will be alternatively placed in League VII, which is typically reserved for the county’s smallest schools based on enrollment, but East Hampton had requested to play in to develop the program and forgo the playoffs.

Brooks said that development is ongoing and the time to play in its typical league, which would have been League IV this season, has come.

“It’s time to get into our own league and to see how we stack up against teams we’d be playing against, so I’ve schedule nonleague games against those teams we could be facing next season,” she said. “We’ll see how we can compete against those teams and see what we need to improve on.”

For the time being, East Hampton will play in League VII with Babylon, Greenport/Southold, Mattituck, Pierson, Port Jefferson, Smithtown Christian and Southampton. Nonleague games include Hampton Bays, Center Moriches and Shoreham-Wading River.

Brooks said while it’s still a relatively small program, there were good numbers at tryouts which made it hard to pick a team. And while she has coached some of the girls on JV recently, she wasn’t too familiar with the returning players, but picked the team that she thought worked out best.

That includes seniors Gizel Espinal, Brynley Lys, Ana McCormack, Colleen McKee, Kaili Moore, Maya Taveras and Melanie Vizcaino, juniors Mia Marin, Taylor Rade and Carli Stuckart, sophomore Cali Jordan and freshman Lai’la Sanders.

“They’re all working really hard, but they all have to learn new offenses, new defenses, and it’s really kind of like a fresh start,” Brooks said. “They have to learn new inbound plays, how to press break, everything is new for the girls. The returning JV players I had last season have a little more understanding of the plays right now, but that doesn’t mean they all can’t catch up, and they will, as long as they work together and learn where all players are going at all times. Sometimes that’s more of a feel for where their teammates are on the court. They don’t have that yet, but they’ll get it.”

“They have the talent and capability to be successful, they’re all very athletic, we just need to tweak a few things in their basketball skills to advance them along,” she continued. “I need them to be more consistent and rely on each other with the emphasis of being part of a team.”

The Bonackers host their first game of the season, a nonleague game against Hampton Bays, on Tuesday, December 9, at 4 p.m. They’ll play at Center Moriches in another nonleague game on December 12 at 6 p.m., before hosting Mattituck in their first home game on December 19 at 4:30 p.m.