East Hampton - For the better part of Ed Petrie's career as coach of the East Hampton boys basketball team, fans wondered less whether the Bonackers would win on any given night but by how much. Their defense smothered, their offense ran the floor often and had waited for good looks at the hoop when they didn't. They were the model team, winners of countless league titles and, in the last two years, back-to-back overall Suffolk County and Class A Long Island championships.

This year, it's a clean slate - few carryovers from last year's Long Island champions, none from the state finalists two years ago. Considering the Bonac tradition of excellence, though, Petrie's crew will win its fair share of games, just not with the faces or necessarily in that high-flying fashion that everyone's used to.

Tyler Brenneman has hit double digits in all three contests, including a career-high 27 in the Bonackers' win over Westhampton Thursday.

"Our expectations are to get better every day," Petrie said. "We really have no expectations because we have no experienced players to have expectations built upon. It's a whole new team. We have a long way to go."

They've started as well as they can start from a win-loss standpoint, going 3-0 with triumphs over Pierson, Shoreham-Wading River and Westhampton. Petrie is as concerned with the results as he is with how those results are obtained.

There's no one of the likes of Jerome Russell, Hayden Ward, Marcus Edwards and Mikey Russell, the Bonackers' four 1,000-point scorers from the past two years. Instead, the inexperienced and undersized bunch will look to do the job with a balanced, blue-collar attack.

Senior Aaron Hillman, who played JV ball as a ninth grader with the Bonackers before transferring, landed back in East Hampton, and promptly led the team in scoring with 20 points in Bonac's season-opening win over Pierson. However, his and others' relative inexperience will likely mean that scoring will come from a different source each night. Hillman had three points in the 61-57 overtime win at Shoreham-Wading River; Toussaint, who didn't score in the opener, led East Hampton with a career-high 16. Tyler Brenneman hit double-digits in all three Bonac contests to this point, including his own career high of 27 in the 63-36 win over Westhampton Thursday.

In that game, East Hampton hit exactly zero three-pointers. Instead, they hit the glass, forcing turnovers and taking high-percentage shots - all trademarks of Petrie ball - and managed to win going away without the fireworks that fans have enjoyed in the recent past. They've enjoyed the victories though; Bonac has now won 10 straight in the regular season and 16 of its last 17 overall.

"It's going to have to be a good solid team effort," Petrie said. "Different people are going to have to step up."

This weekend, East Hampton heads to the two-day SYS Holiday Classic Tournament at Southampton High School with the host Mariners, Bridgehampton and New York City-based Dalton. Bonac draws Dalton in the semifinals on Friday (6 p.m.) with the Mariners and Bridgies set to square off at 8 p.m.. The semifinal winners vying for the tournament title the next night.

Local Showdown Brewing In League VII
It hasn't so much been a rivalry between Hampton Bays and Southampton because the Mariners continually came out on top in the schools' series. That ended last year when a Chris Rydberg three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Baymen their first win ever against their neighbors to the east. This year, both teams have gotten off to fine starts and could be near the top for what would be a wild finish.

Over his first two years on varsity, the Mariners' D'Angelo Smith had struggled with inconsistency in the scoring column. He's taken the reins of the team in this his senior year, dropping 23 on Greenport in Southampton's 51-43 win on December 11 and another 16 on Babylon in a 47-46 triumph on Tuesday. Kyle Hermann sealed that win by burying a turnaround jumper with seven seconds remaining.

Southampton's Donald Williams (left) and Hampton Bays' Cameron Booth will do battle twice this year, including in the teams' season finale on February 10.

For the Baymen, a 60-54 win over Smithtown East of League II sent an early message to the league, as did their rout of Port Jeff on Tuesday. Cameron Booth scored 17 of his career-high 29 points in a second quarter that saw Hampton Bays outscore the visitors 23-9. Its lead was never in jeopardy from there. Their hopes will rely heavily on the dynamic duo of Booth and Bruno Cavallo, who had a game-high 19 in their victory over Smithtown East. Ryan Walker chipped in with career highs of 12 points and seven rebounds.

Southampton is certainly familiar with challenging for the league and county titles, having won League VII two years ago before losing to Center Moriches in the Class B final. Hampton Bays, a Class C school, has not been a perennial contender but may have the tools to keep the momentum going forward. The two teams square off in their season finale at Hampton Bays on February 10. Mark your calendars and get there early.

Around The Rim
Two years ago, the Southampton girls basketball team went the whole season without a win. The season is young, but the revitalized Lady Mariners entered Thursday with the most wins in all of Suffolk County - four. Their record stood at 4-2 following victories over Pierson, Southold, Westhampton and Babylon.

The freshmen have come to play for coach Juni Wingfield. Kesi Goree, who's played at the varsity level since she was a seventh grader, has averaged 11.5 points per game through six games, scoring a career-high 20 in a season-opening loss at Connetquot and another 17 in Southampton's win over Westhampton. Another frosh, Paris Hodges, led the way with 15 to beat Southold. The biggest of the wins came Tuesday as Southampton dropped rival Babylon 35-30 to open up their League VII schedule. …

Despite suffering a defeat at Mercy, kudos to the Ross girls for tipping off its 2009 varsity season. The Lady Ravens were on hiatus for the past two seasons, their last varsity game taking place in February 2007. …

League VIII on the boys side could very well be wide open. Greenport, a state finalist in Class D last year, has dropped off with the loss of Ryan Creighton to Franklin Pierce. Bridgehampton lost its opener at Southold but, as a returning Class D county finalist, could find itself near the top of the standings shortly. Shelter Island won the first of two big rivalry games with Pierson, getting 14 points from Mike Mundy in a 40-31 win on Tuesday. Ross, always on the brink of climbing into contention, is in position to do so this year. Behind 21 points from Brandon Pettaway, the Ravens upended Shelter Island on Thursday to move to 2-0 in the league, a record they'll take into the new year as their next contest is January 5 at Pierson.