ORANGE — Although summer basketball does not directly correlate to the winter season, it can still help identify strengths and weaknesses of a varsity basketball program while also showcasing the progress of potential varsity players.
Last summer season, the Mahar boys summer basketball team went undefeated only to lose in the first round of the summer playoffs. The Senators had points pouring in from guys like Quinn Gervais and Matt Jenks during the summer season. That didn’t exactly translate to the varsity season, albeit Gervais was playing with a sore back at times. Last year’s team was inconsistent offensively, defeating Easthampton 59-52 early on in the season, but scoring only 34 points against Southwick and 39 points in its playoff game against Frontier. The varsity team went 13-8 during the regular season.
So summer basketball isn’t a direct transfer to the varsity season, where teams can practice every day and play more intense competition. After this year’s summer season, a few things stand out that should transfer to the 2019 basketball season:
Deven Patch and Matt Lyesiuk carried the offense during the summer season. It seems likely they will during the regular season.
The Senators graduate seven seniors this year, which includes its top two scorers — Sam Paul, who scored at least 10 points in all but four games during the 2017-2018 season, and Brennan Mailloux. And although the Senators didn’t end the year with five starting seniors, they started the year with five starting seniors. Some combo of guys will have to replace that production.
Patch and Lyesiuk seem the most probable to do so. Patch enters his junior year and provided a bulk of the scoring during this summer season. Standing well over 6 feet, he provides an intriguing ability to block shots and shoot beyond the arc. Although Patch needs to figure out how to work inside more, it seems almost certain the Senators will incorporate him into a large portion of offensive plays.
Lyesiuk can shoot the 3-pointer as well and did so this summer, making it almost an anomaly when he did not score at least 10 points in a game. Lyesiuk is still young, entering his sophomore year and still needs to work on his defensive abilities. But he can shoot with the best of the rest and should provide a good chunk of points for the Senators, at least from beyond the arc.
Questions still remain about this group’s defense.
Seven seniors meant a lot of age and maturity for the Senators, which led to disciplined defense. Those players have graduated. Still, the Senators have players like Patch, Dasean Watson and Eli Gonzalez, who all provide a solid presence underneath the hoop. Even with those guys hovering around the paint, teams like Pioneer and Lunenburg were still able to score 50 points on a running clock against this defense. Sure, deficiencies arise because of the relaxed atmosphere of summer basketball. Most of the time teams play without a full roster, too. But even with relaxed play and without a full roster, that doesn’t rid away all defensive deficiencies. The team has to prove it can guard the perimeter and can take away the best offensive option for each team. Something to keep an eye on during the varsity season.
Who will take over point guard duties?
With Paul and Mailloux, the Senators had a pair of guards that knew when to shoot and knew when to distribute. They could facilitate an offense effectively. That presence didn’t show this summer season.
Certainly the team has a pair of talented guards in Charlie Barnes and Jordan Desrosiers, the later who might not be available during the season due to a previous leg injury and other factors. Barnes is an above-average athlete and carries out every play to its end. Desrosiers can shoot the ball, but maintains a shoot-first type of instinct. Barnes can shoot, too, but neither Barnes nor Desrosiers, nor any guard really, showed a facilitate-first mentality this summer season. One can even go as far as to say Peter Currie was the team’s best facilitate-first type player. Without that presence, the game becomes difficult. Easy baskets go unseen and long, wide-open passes occur.
As of now, the Senators have a young team entering this school year with only two seniors as of the summer season. This group will certainly make mistakes but grow as well. The Senators are in no position to expect fewer wins than a season ago. As the team stands, it is young with several question marks. Keep an eye on these things when the varsity season begins Dec. 11 against Quaboag Regional High School.