The colors are striking: Bridgehampton’s black and yellow against Greenport’s purple and gold. The Killer Bees and the Porters.
For years the boys basketball teams of the two high schools have been linked in an historic rivalry. Sometimes Bridgehampton has the stronger team; sometimes Greenport has the advantage.
In comparing the two teams, there is one glaring difference. READ
What’s all the buzz about?
The Killer Bees were in town. That would be the Bridgehampton Killer Bees, Greenport’s ancient high school boys basketball rivals. READ
Fittingly, the buzz in the Southold High School gym came from the Killer Bees.
The Bridgehampton Killer Bees boys basketball team looked the part Friday evening in their black away uniforms with the bright yellow lettering and numbers.
And J.P. Harding? Well, he stung like a bee. READ
Two days after winning the Class C county championship, the Greenport boys basketball team faced Class D winner Bridgehampton in the Section XI Tournament Monday afternoon at Suffolk County Community College in Selden. The Porters won the non-elimination game 67-41 to advance to play the winner of Class B, either No. 1 Center Moriches or No. 2 Babylon. READ
No one saw it coming, no one at all.
Yes, the fans that filled up the Greenport High School gymnasium knew all about the game that pit the two best teams in Suffolk County League VIII against one another Wednesday night. But no one would have figured or predicted that Greenport would have recorded a resounding 80-48 victory over Bridgehampton.
READ
Pat McFarland had a career night. But even that wasn’t enough for the Southold High School boys basketball team on Friday the 13th.
In the first quarter of Friday’s game, McFarland nailed a three-point shot. A few moments later he hit another triple, all net, before swishing yet another trey in succession to the delight of the home fans.
One started to get a sense that it could be a special game for the Southold senior guard.
READ
Pat Mejsak, who scored 10 points for Southold, is challenged by Bridgehampton’s Tylik Furman while attempting a shot. (Credit: Garret Meade)
KILLER BEES 68, FIRST SETTLERS 36
Winning a league championship is nice. Going unbeaten through a league season is even nicer. Just ask the Bridgehampton High School boys basketball team.
Fourteen Suffolk County League VIII games played, 14 league games won. Bridgehampton showed why it has a 17-1 overall record, putting the finishing touches on the regular season Friday night and winning in resounding fashion at Southold High School. When the game ended, the scoreboard showed the Killer Bees on the positive end of a 68-36 score. (more…)
Greenport’s Matt Drinkwater looks for someone to pass to while being guarded by Bridgehampton’s Matt Hostetter. (Credit: Garret Meade)
KILLERS BEES 59, PORTERS 33
The early start to the Suffolk County League VIII boys basketball season places a premium on a quick start. Perhaps more than ever, it’s important for teams to bolt quickly out of the starting blocks.
The Greenport Porters tripped at the starting line. (more…)
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | An off-balance Angel Colon putting up a shot for Greenport during its county semifinal victory over Bridgehampton on Wednesday night.
SUFFOLK COUNTY CLASS D SEMIFINAL | PORTERS 55, KILLER BEES 52
Good shooters are made, not born. Gavin Dibble is no exception.
Dibble made himself into the shooter that he is. The Greenport High School senior said he shoots baskets every day.
“Repetition and practice,” he said. “It’s hours and hours of work. Usually in the off-season I shoot about 500 shots a day. That’s what it takes.” (more…)
DANA SHAW of THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS | Congressman Tim Bishop and challenger Randy altschuler debate at the Bridgehampton School on Monday night.
The debate between Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Republican challenger Randy Altschuler in Bridgehampton on Monday turned inward when the candidates argued over campaign tactics in a race marked by a flood of attack ads.
The two men covered well-trodden ground in what was their fourth debate on the East End, once again laying out their differing visions for economic recovery.
But to a greater extent than in past debates, they expressed frustration over the tone of the race itself.
The candidates even attacked each other’s attacks during an extended exchange, with Mr. Altschuler calling the congressman’s tactics “filthy” and Mr. Bishop calling his opponent’s ads “unseemly.”
“This has been an ugly, bruising campaign,” Mr. Bishop said. “I think Mr. Altschuler regrets that. I regret that. I think even within the
context of an ugly, bruising campaign, I think family should be off-limits.”
Mr. Bishop, a Democrat running for his sixth term, was referring to what he claimed were recent attacks by Mr. Altschuler’s campaign claiming Mr. Bishop’s wife, Kathy, a preschool director, and 33-year-old daughter, Molly, his political fundraiser, have benefited from his political and professional connections.
Mr. Bishop has rejected those charges in the past.
Mr. Altschuler said he tried to run a positive campaign, filming an ad with his family and releasing a jobs plan, but was quickly drawn into a brawl that he claims Mr. Bishop started.
“I would say 98 percent of his money or more is spent saying negative things about me, and not at one point talking about the things he’s done in the last 10 years in Congress,” Mr. Altschuler said.
Mr. Bishop called that account “disingenuous.”
“Before we had run a single ad, before we had said anything at all, July 28, Mr. Altschuler has a press conference in front of my office in
Patchogue to attack my daughter and my wife,” he said. “So, please, please don’t be the choir boy when it comes to negative campaigning.”
Mr. Altschuler also called that characterization “totally disingenuous.”
The exchange built off a similar one in Hamptons Bays last month, when a high school senior asked the candidates why they were running negative ads rather than touting their own accomplishments.
The two men also discussed the role of super political action committees, or “super PACs” in the campaign. Super PACs are groups that can make unlimited amounts of political spending independent of campaigns.
Both regretted the phenomenon, largely the result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision two years ago on Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission. But both have benefited from super PAC money in this year’s election.
Mr. Altschuler said it’s “an unfortunate situation we’re in,” and Mr. Bishop said super PACs “fundamentally threaten our democracy.”
The candidates spoke at length on a host of other issues, including unemployment and the economy, taxes and bipartisanship.
The debate, which focused on jobs and the economy for the first half, kicked off with a question posed to both on whether cutting taxes creates jobs. Mr. Altschuler said he believes it does, while Mr. Bishop said there’s no evidence that proves cutting taxes alone will create jobs.
They rehashed some of the same issues from prior debates, once again addressing the attacks on outsourcing and ethics, while
defending themselves.
Mr. Altschuler has been heavily criticized by the Bishop campaign for being an outsourcing pioneer. Mr. Bishop has had his ethics challenged on whether his campaign solicited donations for helping a constituent get necessary permits for a fireworks show this summer.
The two also explained their positions on abortion.
The next presidential administration could appoint at least two Supreme Court justices, which could determine future decisions on issues like abortion. Mr. Altschuler said he is pro-life, with the exceptions of rape, incest and the health of the mother. Mr. Bishop said he is
pro-choice, and that he shares former President Bill Clinton’s views that abortions should be “safe, legal and rare.”
The debate was the second in a series of debates sponsored by The Press News Group, which covers the South Fork, and Times/Review News Group of the North Fork.
It will conclude on Thursday, Oct. 25, when the newspaper groups will cosponsor another debate with the League of Women Voters of the
Hamptons.
That debate will take place at the Westhampton Beach High School on Lilac Road in Westhampton Beach at 7 p.m.
Ms. Abbas is a reporter for the Press News Group of Southampton.