It’s been a rough millennium for Westhampton Beach’s varsity basketball team. With frustrations aplenty and victories seldom earned, the mockery the team has received in the past has been understandable and perhaps even warranted.
However, experience, a major coaching change, and a slew of talented newcomers have completely changed the landscape of basketball in this small beach town.

Senior captains Luke Dyer and Michael Frangeskos are seasoned veterans poised to make a deep playoff run during their final season of high school ball. With 2 years of varsity basketball under their belts, they are more than ready for the challenge. In addition, junior transfers Devon Ware and Devonte Dixon are ready to make an immediate impact after transferring from William Floyd over the summer. The two explosive guards offer gritty perimeter defense, solid 3-point shooting, and great quickness to the basket.

A talented young frontcourt which features junior Cole Attar and sophomores Rashaad Mitchell and Emmanuel Clarke will offer solid size and toughness down low, while senior John Frangeskos and junior Charles Caputo bring size and consistent spot-up shooting to the wing.
Second year head coach John Baumiller has no doubt in the potential of this new and improved unit. “I want to win every game…go all the way.” This may sound like a far-fetched aspiration, but if there’s any coach who can take this team the distance, it’s him. The gritty, hard-nosed coach won over 350 games in an illustrious career in coaching at Patchogue-Medford High School.

“I was proud of what the team did in the spring and summer,” says Baumiller, who last summer coached the team to a 10-2 record in the Town of Brookhaven Summer Basketball League, culminated by a victory over Mattituck in the championship game at Saint Josephs College in Patchogue. This team has now made winning a habit, and is more than ready to turn some heads come December.