Southampton Falls 61-59 to Tigers in SYS Tournament Championship Round

History repeated itself in the most heartbreaking way for the Southampton boys basketball team in the championship round of the Holiday Classic.

This Saturday's ending was oddly similar to the first: Tied up towards the end of the fourth quarter, all it took was a well-executed two-pointer at the buzzer to dash the Mariners' hopes — this time by 61-59.

Last year's two-point loss to Dalton also came at the buzzer, but in overtime after tying 56-56 in regulation.

The 2010 championship game was another back-and-forth affair, at its most even in the first half as both teams stayed within four points of each other — Southampton up in the first quarter, but down in the second — to tie 25-25 at halftime.

Surging ahead 10 points in the third quarter, Southampton had successfully repaired the damage and got its momentum back in the fourth, though its chances came undone mere seconds before the clock expired. 

"They just ended up with that last shot, and they hit it," said Southampton head coach Herm Lamison. "We missed a shot attempt with 3.56 seconds left, they called a time-out, threw it up and they nailed it."

Shaundell Fishburne led the Mariners with 26 points. Donovan Trent tallied 16 points, Colin Buoniello chipped in nine points, and Trayvon Smith scored seven points. Demetrius McCoy contributed two points, and Devon Trent scored one point.

Southampton will host the Royals on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m.

UPDATE:

About $2,200 was raised at this year's Holiday Classic for the SYS scholarship fund  —  an increase over last year's donations, which totaled nearly $2,000, according to SYS executive director Scott Johnson. 

"It was a great tournament," he added. "I think people were pretty pleased, and there was some terrific ball playing." 

With the same four teams returning from last year, the second-annual tournament was once again a small, familiar affair. Traveling the longest distance, from New York City, the Tigers have a local connection through their head coach, Teddy Frischling, who has overseen summer programs at SYS.

The players named All-Tournament this year were: Connor Jacobson and Michael Salik (Dalton), Donovan Trent and Shaundell Fishburne (Southampton), Jason Hopson (Bridgehampton) and Thomas King (East Hampton).