Eagles Take Tough Loss from Bellport, 61-51

Hauppauge boys varsity basketball Eagles lost 61-51 to the Bellport Clippers on Thursday in the early shaping of League IV’s standings. Posession was the separating factor for the teams as turnovers continued to extend the Clippers’ lead.

Score: Hauppauge Eagles 51, Bellport Clippers 61

Record: Hauppauge 1-2 (4-5), Bellport 1-1 (3-4) in League IV

Heroes: The Clippers made it clear that they weren’t going to allow the Eagles any easy drives to the hoop, but persistence from John Velasquez allowed him to score 21 points.

Eventually, Bellport brought more pressure towards Velasquez and Kyle Sutryk and Luke Wolmer were able to get open from the outside. Sutryk scored 15 points with 3 3-pointers, and Wolmer ended up scoring 10 points.

Turning Point: From the game's start, the Clippers brought heavy defensive pressure, swarming around the ball. The Eagles had a tough time gaining offensive momentum , giving up turnovers coming from frustrated traveling violations, desperate passing and forced shots. Bellport led by 10 at points through the first quarter.

“When we miss shots and let them run down court, the score’s going to get out of hand,” Eagles head coach Dave Massino said.

With some steady charges through the Bellport defense, and the outside shots opened from those charges, the Eagles were able to work their way up to a point behind the Clippers at halftime with the score 23-24. The score didn’t stay that close for long; the Clippers went back to their attack defense and the Eagles offense found themselves stalled.

In the final quarter, the Eagles put on some pressure that generated a few steals and briefly looked like a comeback rally, but wound up putting some of the best shooters in the league at the free throw line. The Clippers went 20 for 29 in free throws before the game ended, winning 51-61.

Quote: “This was really a story about our inept offense. We had some moments, things like rebounding that we had focused on, but they’re a good team and you cant hold a good team for long. They were able to exploit a lot of our game, and we see the areas that need working on. We’ll be back in practice and working on getting to back to .500,” Masino said.

Bottom Line:  League IV has two teams still without a loss, Half Hollow Hills West and West Babylon. Recently, both Bellport and Hauppauge took losses against the West Babylon team, and assuming a consistent opponent, this games' outcome could have been expected.

Earlier this season, Bellport lost to West Babylon by 4 points after winning the first and third quarters. Hauppauge, on Tuesday, saw a 12-point loss to West Babylon after leading at the half. The Eagles certainly hope the second-half dwindling doesn’t continue, but they have to work out their kinks.

Who’s Next: The Eagles travel to take on Comseqogue on Jan. 13, 6:45 p.m.

Box Score:  

51