Despite turmoil, East Hampton just keeps on winning games
EAST HAMPTON – The East Hampton girls basketball team did Wednesday night what it’s done all season.
The Bellringers won.
This time, they beat St. Paul 39-34 in a Class M state quarterfinal game. Monday, they will play in the semifinal for the second straight season, against Shoreline foe Coginchaug at a time and place to be determined, for a chance to go to the state championship game at Mohegan Sun. Last year, the Bellringers lost in the semifinal.
But this season they’re focused and have purpose after playing much of the season without head coach Shaun Russell. Russell was placed on administrative leave Dec. 21 after video of the Dec. 20 game at Valley Regional showed him shoving one of his players in an apparent attempt to move her to another position on the court during the game. The player stumbled after the shove before running to the other side of the court.
After an investigation into the incident, Russell was reinstated as coach on Feb. 14, Senior Night.
“The investigation, which included interviews with team members, parents and Mr. Russell indicated that the push from the sidelines, while unwise (and for which he was disciplined), was not done maliciously,” East Hampton superintendent Paul Smith said in an email on Feb. 14.
Smith added Thursday in an email that the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) got involved with the investigation because of “a possibility of abuse or neglect of a child, school personnel as mandated reporters must take action and make a report. Upon a report being submitted, DCF decided to pursue an investigation.”
Smith said Russell was suspended for a week initially, but because DCF was investigating, the district placed Russell on paid leave. DCF had 45 days to complete the report.
DCF’S report, according to Smith’s email, stated: “Upon supervisory review, it was decided to not substantiate the allegation of physical abuse of – name redacted – by her basketball coach Shaun Russell.”
Russell, who has been the coach at East Hampton for 26 years and has over 400 wins, said Wednesday of the suspension, “For me, there’s not a lot to talk about. At this point, we’re moved on and we’re playing basketball. We feel good about that and we’re focused on it.”
East Hampton lost to Cromwell, 38-29, on Jan. 3 but hasn’t lost since. The Bellringers won 14 straight to end the regular season, then swept through the Shoreline Conference tournament, avenging their only loss with a 35-24 win over Cromwell in the championship game.
Allyson Smith, who graduated from East Hampton in 2005 and played for Russell, served as the team’s interim coach for the majority of the time Russell was out.
Smith, who coached at Rocky Hill for nine years, was not surprised the team kept winning throughout the turmoil.
“It’s a testament — this is his program, this is his legacy — when you’re disciplined like that day in and day out and when you emphasize togetherness, family — it’s more than basketball — winning takes care of itself,” she said Wednesday. “It was an opportunity to show that. The girls are so close, they’ve been playing together forever and they pushed through together.”
It happened again Wednesday in the battle between St. Paul and East Hampton, two top defensive teams. The game was tied at 21 at halftime, and the top-seeded Bellringers (24-1) found themselves trailing No. 8 seed St. Paul 30-29 with six minutes left in the game.
Sophomore Liana Salamone scored eight of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws to put East Hampton up 33-31 with 4:18 left and another free throw to give the Bellringers a 37-34 lead with 43 seconds left.
“We were able to execute down the stretch,” Russell said. “We made enough free throws – we should have made more — to escape, but we got to the line and that’s the goal.”
Salamone said that the trials of the season made the team closer.
“We’re really close,” she said. “We just trusted each other.”
Said Russell: “They’re a tough group that cares about each other, above and beyond basketball. They’ve grown up together. This is something you see in smaller towns. The teams that generally rise to the top are the kids who care about each other.
“So it’s easier to lean on each other when it’s about more than basketball. I thought they did a great job all year with that.”