By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
Returning seven players from last year’s record-setting season, the boys basketball team returned to the gym this week with veteran experience and a set of clear goals.
“We are always looking to get better. We always want to get better then we were last year. We are looking to win the league again, we are looking to make it to the state tournament and have the best record in school history.
The bar has been raised a little bit now,” head coach Beau Almodobar said.
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Photo by Jim Powers
Senior guard Evan Hourihan drives around Chris Welch, back, and Adam Spencer, right, during Monday’s opening boys basketball practice.
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The Whalers will open their season next Friday, Dec. 7 at Mashpee before playing the home opener Friday, Dec. 14 against Blue Hills.
“These guys can do big things, if they play as a team. That is one of the hardest things as a coach to do, is to get these guys to play together, be unselfish and find the open man. That is our main focus,” Almodobar said.
Last season, Nantucket earned the third seed in the Division IV South Sectional tournament with a school-record, regular-season 15-5 mark.
The Whalers easily defeated Lighthouse Conference foe Cape Cod Academy, 71-41 in the first round before falling to 11th-seeded Westport 64-37 at home. They finished the season at 16-6 overall and a perfect 6-0 in the Lighthouse Conference.
“Last year our season really ended on a positive note. One of our goals is always to have the best record, make it to the state tournament, and win our league and we accomplished those things. One still kind of eludes us and that is the state championship,” Almodobar said.
The Whalers lost only two seniors from last year’s team, center Kevin Stanton and guard Nikki Phillips. This year the varsity squad boasts six seniors and five juniors, most with plenty of game experience.
“Last year we were a young team. Now we are more of an older team with a lot of seniors and juniors,” Almodobar said.
Senior captain Jordan Ferreira returns to the hardwood as one of the main offensive threats after leading the Whalers’ offense with 376 total points last winter. The four-year starter is also within 250 points of reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his high school career.
Juniors Delroy Lawrence and Josh Butler return in the paint with help down low from returning senior forwards Tomas Smaliorius and Adam Spencer. At guard, senior Evan Hourihan and junior Eric Lowell return to duty.
This year’s Whalers will feature good size across the board as well as some team speed.
Look for the Whalers to benefit from a handful of junior varsity call-ups this season, including guard Chris Welch to add some depth to that position and forwards Troy Sullivan and Eddie Coffin.
The Whalers will focus on conditioning in the first week of practices as well as scrimmaging, especially at the junior varsity level, to determine placement. Nantucket will travel to Chatham on Tuesday for its only scrimmage of the preseason.
“We are going to look to push it of course, which is why we condition so much. We always try to get our fundamentals a little bit better and try to get them to focus on the mental part of the game. Those are our three components – conditioning, fundamentals and their mental toughness,” Almodobar said.
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Photo by Jim Powers
Josh Butler, front left, and Eric Lowell, right, participate in conditioning drills during the first day of boys basketball practice Monday. |
The Whalers will play a 20-game schedule this season with only eight home games. They will play two games at both the Cape Cod Christmas Classic in December and the Island Invitational on Martha’s Vineyard in February.
New to the schedule this season is a home and away series with North Cambridge. The Whalers will play a tough Division I Dennis-Yarmouth team as well as Division II Martha’s Vineyard.
“We have a tough schedule this year. I think it only helps us when we get to playoff time. The last couple years we have been two and out. We win the first one and then we are out. Whether we take it on the chin with some of these Division I games, I think it will make us better in the long run,” Almodobar said.
Nantucket will play at Mashpee to open the season followed by home games against Blue Hills and South Shore Voke in the month of December.
In January the Lighthouse Conference schedule opens with home and away games against Cape Cod Academy, Provincetown and Sturgis.
2008 Boys Varsity Basketball
12/7 Mashpee A 3 p.m.
12/14 Blue Hills H 3 p.m.
12/15 South Shore Voke H 2:30 p.m.
12/27 Cape Classic vs. the Vineyard A 5:15 p.m.
12/28 Cape Classic vs. Upper Cape Tech A 1:45 p.m.
12/30 North Cambridge A 1 p.m.
1/12 North Cambridge H 2 p.m.
1/15 Cape Cod Academy A 3:30 p.m.
1/19 Provincetown A 1 p.m.
1/22 Dennis-Yarmouth H 3 p.m.
1/26 Sturgis H 1 p.m.
1/30 Cape Cod Academy H 3 p.m.
2/1 Blue Hills A 4:30 p.m.
2/2 South Shore Voke A 2:30 p.m.
2/7 Sturgis A 5 p.m.
2/9 Provincetown H 1 p.m.
2/14 Dennis-Yarmouth A 3:30 p.m.
2/17 Island Invite at the Vineyard A 8:15 p.m.
2/18 Island Invite at the Vineyard A 3 p.m.
2/20 Mashpee H 3 p.m.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com |
