Players ready for competitive tryouts on Nov. 15 for limited spots.
The team is returning core players in sophomores: point guards Miller Romm, and Jayden Rowe, shooting guard Chris Rinaldi, power forward Nathan Bowman and center Ryan Feldman. This group looks to lead the team this year. Last year they all had big roles in contributing to the team’s performance. “I expect the team this year to have a good record because we are returning many players that we had from last year,” Rinaldi said.
Sophomores who may be making the varsity team are small forward Jacob Kravitz and shooting guard Dallas Dean. This will be a big loss for the JV team if they get put on varsity. Kravitz and Dean both bring elite scoring with the athletic ability on defense that is needed. Both of them played over the summer with the varsity team and continued to practice with the team. “If we get the opportunity to be on varsity we’ll take it but I also think it may be good to get more playing opportunity on JV,” Dean said.
The team last year had a 9-8 record, more than doubling the wins from the year before. Although the team had a winning record, they still thought they should have had a better record with close losses to Richard Montgomery and Rockville. They are determined not to drop easy games this year and finish out strong. “I think leadership and focusing on defense will help the team be able to finish out games strong this year,” Feldman said.
Rebounding and defense are the two main areas of emphasis that the team wants to focus on. The team is undersized with only two big men returning. Boxing out and being aggressive on the boards will contribute to their success. “Ryan and I have to be able to fight for the rebounds if we want to be able to win the game,” Bowmen said.
What the team lacks in size they make up in athleticism and shooting. All of the guards being super fast lets the team push the ball up the floor in transition. Beating the opposing defense down the floor will open up space for easy layups. The team also is good at being able to run their offense, making good space and setting up the shooters for open three pointers. “If we can be able to execute on offense, we should be able to get easy shots every time down the floor on offense,” Rowe said.
