East Hampton's Woes on Offense Continue in Loss to Morgan

On paper, this was a winnable game for the East Hampton boys' basketball team.  Morgan, with losses in 12 of its last 14 games, presented the Bellringers with an opportunity for an eighth victory, good enough to qualify for the Class S tournament, and for a seventh win in the conference, which in all probability would have snuck them into the Shoreline tournament.

Games are not won on paper, however, and what transpired on the court Tuesday night in Clinton was a 54-28 thrashing by the Huskies that left East Hampton barely clinging to its postseason hopes.

"We had a great practice [Sunday]. We just came out and missed a lot of shots," East Hampton coach Bob Freitas said. "They just outworked us tonight. It's just the way it is. We didn't execute. We just didn't make shots."

After a 3-1 start, Morgan (6-13) has had its share of problems this season as well. After being eliminated from the postseason by Valley Regional Feb. 15, coach Ken Beeman has had to look for other means of motivation.

"As a coach, we try to find some motivation somewhere," Beeman said. "We knew East Hampton was coming in looking for the state tournament and we said we're not going to be the one that lets them into the state tournament."

Whether an ability to create good looks at the basket or hitting open shots, generating offense has been an issue all season for the Bellringers, who have been held to 36 points or less in six games. Throw in a Morgan team that was playing its final home game, and it was apparent early on that scoring would again be a problem.

East Hampton (7-12) was held to two free throws by Kyle Adams in the first quarter as Morgan built an 8-2 lead heading into the second behind six points from Scott Ierardi.

The Huskies made it 12-2 early in the second quarter before East Hampton finally showed some signs of life on offense. Matt Booth hit a 15-footer from the wing and Brian Roberson had a nice rebound off a miss by Austin Shumbo that he converted into two points to make it 12-6. A steal by Morgan freshman Nick Powers that he took in for a layup ended the mini run by East Hampton. Despite their shooting woes, the Bellringers were only down 18-8 heading into the half.

The Huskies quickly put the game away in the third quarter. Up 22-8, Will Thompson hit a three-pointer, then converted a conventional three-point play with a basket and a free throw for a 28-8 lead. At the end of the third, Morgan led, 34-11.

"Overall , I am ecstatic for these boys," Beeman said. "It's been a long season as far as the wins have gone. It's been a long time coming. We did win last week at North Branford, so to put this one in there as a second in a row is fantastic for these kids to feel successful. I don't necessarily measure success just with wins, but a lot of the kids do."

Roberson led East Hampton in scoring with 11 points. Thompson had 11 for Morgan while Ierardi and Tyler Anglin chipped in 10 each.

The Bellringers do have one more game remaining. One final shot at making the postseason. So, why then did it seam the season had ended? Because their opponent couldn't be much more difficult.

Valley Regional (18-1) comes to town Wednesday night, which also will be Senior Night. The Warriors, led by 6-foot-5 senior Mitchell King, are undefeated in Shoreline play, having won every game by at least 13 points. Their only loss was to Glastonbury, 53-51, in the Xavier Holiday Tournament.

Impossible? No, not if you believe nothing is. Certainly it will take a Herculean effort, an off-night by Valley and some luck sprinkled, if not poured, in between. A packed and noisy gym wouldn't hurt, either. As Freitas said, "There is a reason we play them," referring to games.

So, as Freitas prepared to rejoin his team, what was he going to say to them?

"Get ready [Tuesday] to practice for Valley on Wednesday. We got one more game to play."