Southampton Boys Regroup, Target Another Playoff Run; Girls Keep Growing Program

With aspirations of making it to the New York State Championships, the Southampton boys basketball team had those hopes unexpectedly dashed after a 75-67 loss to Mount Sinai in the Suffolk County Class A Championship last season. To throw salt on that wound, the program said goodbye to some longtime players in starters Tyrese and Tyson Reddick and Davon Palmore following that loss.

But the Mariners have long since put that defeat in the rearview mirror and they’ve reloaded for what will hopefully be a longer run this season.

“We graduated a lot of great kids, many of which have been in the program for five, six, seven years,” said head coach Herm Lamison, who reached the 500 win milestone last season. “It was a really nice stretch, but as does life, we move on. And so do the kids, and they’ve all got new lives. Now it’s time to turn the page and move on.”

Despite all they’ve graduated, the Mariners still possess some of the top two players on Long Island in seniors Alex Franklin and Saevion Ward. Franklin is coming off his best season yet in which he eclipsed the 1,000 career-point milestone and was the team’s most consistent player. He also caught national headlines this past summer when he worked out with Lebron James in the Southampton High School gym. Ward really turned his game up another notch last season, especially during the team’s playoff run, and the two will pack a potent one-two punch to opposing teams this winter.

Both Franklin and Ward were selected to represent Suffolk County in the Alzheimer’s All-Star Basketball Classic in October. Only the top 12 players each from Suffolk and Nassau counties are selected to play in that game, so essentially, the top 24 players on Long Island. Franklin and Ward helped Suffolk defeat Nassau.

“I would say Alex will be in contention for Player of the Year this year,” Lamison said. “He’s that good, he’s that committed. He’s probably one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever coached, within the top three, definitely. He puts the time in and hopefully he gets everything out of it that he puts in. He’s one of our captains.”

“Saevion played an integral role last season on our team and stepped into the starting lineup when we had some injuries. And he’s become one of the best point guards on Long Island,” he continued. “He’ll anchor our team and be a co-captain with Alex.”

Nate Barbour, a senior who has come off the bench the past few seasons, has been elevated to the starting lineup. Lamison said he’s really improved his game. He’s about 6 feet 3 inches tall and is a very smart and determined player who Lamison said will complement the starting lineup very well.

Filling out the rest of the starting lineup is a pair of transfers, Brian Spellman, a senior who has come in from neighboring Hampton Bays, and Charlie Williams, a junior who has come in from Longwood. Like Barbour, Spellman stands about 6 feet 3 inches tall and can knock down three-pointers. Lamison foresees him taking over Tyson “Splash” Reddick’s role as a dangerous shooter. Williams also provides additional height, something Southampton has lacked in previous years, as he’s 6 feet 4 inches tall. Lamison said he’s a nice finisher inside the paint, but can step out onto the perimeter and shoot the ball just as well.

Matheus Faria is another tall and lanky player who projects to be one of the first players off the bench for Lamison this season. He’s a high energy player, Lamison said, and he likes the enthusiasm he’ll bring off the bench. Valton Reddick, a senior and younger brother of Tyrese and Tyson, will be another key reserve.

Nishawan Williams, another 6-foot-4-inch player, is a senior who will be relied upon to come in and rebound. Senior Alex Mambrino has returned to the team after taking last season off, and junior James Navan and freshman Terrell Terry round out the roster.

Although height is something his team has lacked, Lamison admitted, it’s not necessarily something he looks for in a player because it typically forces them to be one-dimensional.

“I’m not really big about height. I prefer multiple-position players,” he said. “I like what we’ve done so far. We are by no means a finished product. We’ve got a ways to go in that regard, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

What will certainly help Southampton this season is that it has dropped down from Class A into Class B due to lower enrollment. While it will play in a mixed-classification League VI that includes “A” schools Bayport-Blue Point, Center Moriches, Elwood-John Glenn and Shoreham-Wading River, the Mariners will only see fellow “B” schools Babylon, Mattituck and Port Jefferson in the playoffs.

“The As are definitely a more competitive bracket to be in, but we were able to play with anyone,” Lamison said. “I’m not really concerned about our opponents. Our goal is to win a chip.”

Southampton has a number of scrimmages scheduled for the first few weeks of the season leading up to their annual Mariner Athletic Club Holiday Classic on December 19-20, when they will host local teams Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Westhampton Beach. The Mariners’ first league game won’t be until December 22 at Bayport at 4 p.m.

Girls Have Rebuilding Year

Ahead of Them

The Southampton girls basketball team had another large class of seniors graduate last season and with it arguably one of its best players in recent memory in Daelyn Palmore. Head coach Richard “Juni” Wingfield, who always has a way with words, presented the season to his girls in only the positive way he knows how to.

“I told the girls, ‘You’re definitely the it,’ And what do I mean by that? You’re about to embark on a journey of trying to improve together. That is the it factor — trying to improve together,’” he explained. “We have 10 girls who are indicative of our demographics. What people don’t realize is that yes, our enrollment is getting smaller and smaller, but guess what is getting smaller and smaller? The girls, not the boys. There are a lot more boys in our school than girls. So next year, we’ll be a ‘C’ school.”

Leading the team this season will be the team’s lone senior, captain Maggie Glanz. This is the first time in his 30-plus years that Wingfield has only had one senior on the team. But as he noted, Glanz is one of a kind.

“I couldn’t have a better leader than Maggie Glanz,” he said. “She’s incredible, a born leader, very humble, and she decided at a young age to always work hard. And she’s set that example for all of the girls, and she relishes in it.”

Wingfield said Glanz took Faith Mack, a seventh-grader last year who is set to enter her second year on varsity this season, under her wing and show her the ropes of varsity.

“I could see Faith getting a little bit stronger, and I’m sure she’s glad she’s got one more year with Maggie,” he said.

Also returning to the season this season are juniors Melanie Feliciano and Domenique Diaz. After that, it’s all sophomores, freshmen and an eighth-grader: sophomores Avery Greene, Hailey Sulph, Natalie Glanz and Malu Garcia; freshmen Amari White and Lailah Clairborne; and then Mack.

“We’re growing, but we’re not there yet. That’s our mantra,” Wingfield said. “That doesn’t mean that we’ll never get there, but that’s the power of yet and we’ll be using that a lot in what I call the learning pit, which is a very interesting place to be. I’ll be stretching them out to their limits and they’re going to try their best and get so frustrated, but that’s where the magic happens.”

Not only are the girls in a bit of a rebuilding phase, but they were thrown a quirky schedule this season: Six of their first seven games are home, which means six of their last seven games are on the road. They will play in a mixed-classification League VII with alternatively placed East Hampton (AA), Babylon (B), Mattituck (B), Greenport/Southold (B), Port Jefferson (B), Pierson (C) and Smithtown Christian (D).

“This is definitely not my first rodeo,” Wingfield said. “I understand exactly where I’m at. I just have to keep encouraging them and keep them believing in themselves, and that’s never changed. It’s not so much about X’s and O’s, it’s about being proud of who you become.”

Southampton opened the season on Monday with a 51-21 loss at Babylon. It will host Smithtown Christian this Friday, December 5, at 6:30 p.m., before playing at Rocky Point in a nonleague game on Monday, December 8, at 4 p.m.