By Allison Goldsmith
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Photo by Jim Powers
The Whalers boys basketball team readies for the season on their first day of practice at Nantucket High School, Monday afternoon, Nov. 27. |
I&M Sports Editor
The boys varsity basketball team has returned to the court with a perfect balance of size and speed, along with the experience of a state-tournament trip last year.
Starting three freshmen, last year’s varsity squad finished with a 12-9 mark overall, a perfect 6-0 Lighthouse Conference championship record and a 12th seed in the Division IV South state tournament. The Whalers lost only one starting senior and return nine varsity players with a wealth of experience from last year’s campaign.
“Last year we were fast-paced. Last year we were a team with a lot of quickness and we also had a lot of depth,” head coach Beau Almodobar said. “Last year was probably the youngest team I ever had.”
Returning to the bench alongside
eight-year head coach Almodobar will be assistant coach Tom
Ferreira as well as junior varsity head coach Dennis Caron and assistant coach John Stanton.
Thirty-four players showed up for the first day of practice on Monday afternoon. The first two days of practice, the squad was split into four teams to be evaluated and then split into varsity and junior varsity squads on Wednesday. Almodobar expects to carry 12 players for the 20-game varsity schedule.
The varsity and junior varsity squads will play a scrimmage at home against East Windsor on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The varsity team will open the season the following Saturday, Dec. 9, at Avon.
“We are looking to improve our record. That is always a goal. I am very goal-oriented. Our goal is to win the league first, have the best record in school history and make the state tournament,” Almodobar said. “This team is looking for everyone to improve a little more than last year and find out what their role is. If we can learn our roles we should be real fun to watch.”
Among the nine returning varsity players, junior captain Jordan Ferreira is the most versatile player on the floor and could see time at both the power and shooting forward slots as well as at guard. Andriquez Farmer should see most of the action at point guard with help from fellow guards Evan Hourihan and Eric Lowell.
“We can really do a lot of interchanging. I would like to see us run a lot from offense to defense as quickly as we can. I have guys that can come off the bench and not miss a beat,” Almodobar said.
Balancing out the heavy dose of speed, the Whalers are solid in the middle, including inside players Delroy Lawrence and Kevin Stanton. Former junior varsity players Jordan Beans and Josh Butler could also add some height and depth to the Whalers’ inside game. Returning varsity players also Tomas Smaliorius and Adam Spencer bring skill to the power forward position.
“What I really want to work on is our focus. When we come into a game, we are ready to play and we know exactly what we are doing. I want us to work our butts off and I really want to wear the other team down and I think we will have the ability to do that,” Almodobar said. “I expect one thing from them and that is all that they have.”
The Whalers open their schedule with four tough non-league games against established winning programs Avon, Chatham, West Bridgewater and South Shore, which knocked the Whalers out of the tournament last year. The games will be the first of two against each opponent this season. Nantucket will also participate in the Cape & Islands Tournament against Mashpee and Chatham during the holiday vacation week.
The Lighthouse Conference schedule commences after the new year. While Provincetown always provides a tough competition, especially on their home court, look for Cape Cod Academy to be the biggest challenge for a league crown. The Whalers will also face off once against non-league Millis, and home and away against Cohasset in the second half of the season. Nantucket will round out the schedule with a trip the Island Invitational on Martha’s Vineyard, drawing Mt. Everett and Cape Tech or Martha’s Vineyard over Presidents Day weekend.
Boys Varsity Schedule
12/9 at Avon 1:30 p.m.
12/11 Chatham 3:30 p.m.
12/15 at West Bridgewater 4:00 p.m.
12/16 South Shore Tech 2:30 p.m.
12/28 at Cape & Islands vs. Mashpee 2:30 p.m.
12/29 at Cape & Islands vs. Chatham 2:30 p.m.
1/3 Avon 3:00 p.m.
1/11 Cape Cod Academy 4:30 p.m.
1/13 Sturgis 1:00 p.m.
1/16 at Millis 4:00 p.m.
1/20 at Provincetown 1:00 p.m.
1/24 West Bridgewater 2:00 p.m.
1/27 Provincetown 11:30 a.m.
1/30 at Cape Cod Academy 5:00 p.m.
2/3 at Cohasset 4:30 p.m.
2/8 at Sturgis 5:00 p.m.
2/10 Cohasset 1:00 p.m.
2/18 at Island Invite vs. Mt. Everett 6:45 p.m.
2/19 at Island Invite vs. Cape Tech 3:30 p.m.
2/20 at South Shore 5:45 p.m.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com |
