The Pierson High School gym was packed Friday night as the school celebrated Spirit Night with a pair of varsity basketball games.
By Gavin Menu; photography by Michael Heller
Winners abound Friday night at Pierson High School where the Sag Harbor Booster Foundation’s annual Spirit Night brought a large crowd and festive atmosphere to the gym for a doubleheader of varsity basketball.
By the end of the evening both the Pierson boys and Pierson-Bridgehampton girls teams clinched spots in the Class C postseason with victories in their respective games. The night’s other big winner was Jen Smith, who took home a $5,000 Disney gift certificate courtesy of the Booster Foundation’s annual raffle, which helps the club provide support for athletics, music and art programs and scholarships, among other things.
Also on display Friday were the school’s middle and high school choruses, which sang the national anthem and Pierson school song before each game, as well as the school’s Robotics Club, which entertained the crowd at halftime of the boys game.
By that point, the Lady Whalers (5-3 League VIII, 8-8 overall) had already locked up a spot in the playoffs by way of a 39-19 win over visiting Shelter Island. Nia Dawson led the way with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while her fellow sophomores, Ana Sherwood and Isabel Peters, chipped in with eight points apiece.
Sherwood was especially disruptive in the second half as she wreaked havoc in a defensive full court press that held Shelter Island to just five second-half points.
The nightcap featured the Pierson boys team taking down the winless Ross School, 59-44, to improve its League VIII record to 7-4, again
Rojuan Patterson drives to the basket during the Whalers’ win over Ross on Friday.
clinching a spot in the upcoming Class C playoffs.
Playing in his final regular-season home game, senior Robbie Evjen led the team with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow seniors Ben Kushner and Keith Ellis chipped in with 13 and nine points, respectively. Guards Sean Sloane (five points, eight assists) and Andrew James (11 points) also had standout games for the Whalers.
Both teams will close out their regular seasons over the next week before moving on to the Suffolk County playoffs in mid-February.
