This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Mariners Clinch 60-59 Win Over Center Moriches in League Opener

Shaundell Fishburne leads the Southampton boys basketball team for 29 game points in the hard-won road victory.

After it was all said and done Tuesday night at Center Moriches High School, Shaundell Fishburne remained quiet compared to his teammates.

Not being one to scream and shout, the humble Mariner freshman preferred to let his 29-point performance against the Red Devils — and the shouts of support from the Southampton faithful in the stands that night for its League VII opener — do most of the talking.

"We knew it would be a close game," he said, a gradual grin betraying his enthusiasm. "And we won."

Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Fishburne sparked early and stayed hot throughout, slashing and crashing his way to layup after layup and shooting 6-for-10 from the line, lifting Southampton closer to its razor-thin 60-59 win. Nor did Center Moriches lose its edge: Its first-quarter rally led the Red Devils by seven points (18-11) at the buzzer, although from then on, the margins shrunk ever thinner, except for one more seven-point lead by the Mariners (59-52), which was eroded in the final two and a half minutes of play.

Tying closely 49-49 and 51-51, Fishburne gave the Mariners their lead back on a single foul shot. Donovan Trent, with help from Buoniello and Fishburne, shored it up to 59-52 although Myles Bell's foul shot gave Center Moriches its 52nd point. After a Southampton time-out, Red Devils George Williams and Maleek Harris had caught the team by five (59-57), but Southampton's defense limited further scoring to one last Williams two-pointer with seven seconds left. One last foul shot, sunk by Buoniello with 20 seconds left, ended scoring for the Mariners.

Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Southampton head coach Herm Lamison commended Fishburne for his work, acknowledging that his game needs polish, but appreciative of his talent. He also lauded seniors Onajja Browning and Conor Fitzgerald — their passing and ball-handling skills made them the night's unsung heroes — and big man Buoniello, whose defensive efforts down low resulted in seven blocked shots.

"He altered about as many as he got," said Lamison of his center. "He was a real difference-maker."

On the run-up to halftime, Browning drew a foul after a two-pointer, converting it to a three-point play. Fishburne caught a long pass and rocketed inside for two more. Holding Center Moriches at their 22nd point, Fishburne's back-to-back two-point field goals tipped it to Southampton 23-22. Williams and Myles Bell each bucketed two-pointers to reclaim a slim lead for the Red Devils, but a foul against Devon Trent sent him to the line, where Fishburne drew another foul attempting to recover the rebound. Fishburne flushed the pair of free throws to seize it back again by one — 26-25 — at the half.

Fishburne kicked off Southampton's third quarter with three consecutive two-pointers within one minute, including a putback on the second one. Donovan Trent sank a three-point field goal at 4:30 to go, responding to one of two threes that quarter from Red Devil Harvey Houpe. Houpe netted his second three with a minute left to edge Center Moriches up 41-40. The Red Devils went on to lead by three, 45-42, at the start of the final quarter.

Now 5-2 overall, Lamison's expectations against Center Moriches — who now slip to 3-5 — were very simple.

"To do what we did, to win," he said. "We don't expect anything but that. It's about character-building, and we're working on that every day."

Donovan Trent scored 12 points. Buoniello totaled eight points. Browning chipped in five points. Devon Trent tallied three points — all scored on foul shots (3-for-6). 

Williams led the Red Devils with 19 points and went 7-for-10 on free throws.

Southampton will host Wyandanch (0-2 in League VII, 1-6 overall) on Thursday, January 6 at 7 p.m.


 1  2  3  4  F Southampton 11 15 16 18 60 Center Moriches 18  7 20 14 59
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?