PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
St.Mary’s basketball coach Dave Brown makes his directions clear.
By MIKE ALONGI
The St. Mary’s boys basketball team opened up practices for the 2016-2017 season on Monday afternoon, preparing to defend the Division 4 state championship the Spartans won last March at Springfield College. And with the crew that coach Dave Brown has returning, a title defense is certainly in the cards.
“We have such a great group of guys returning,” Brown said. “Not only do we have a bunch of talent, but we have a ton of guys who played serious minutes last year and who know what it takes to win.”
St. Mary’s went 20-5 last season, rolling through the Division 4 North playoffs (including big wins over No. 3 Mystic Valley and No. 1 Pope John) and culminating in a 61-52 win over Maynard to take the Division 4 state crown.
The Spartans will bring back four starters from the championship team this year, including senior point guard Jonny Mercado and senior off-guard Mike Cerulli, two of the elder statesmen on the team. Also returning will be senior power forward Jonathan Mola and freshman Matt Cross, giving the Spartans a powerful duo on the inside. The six-foot-six inch Cross started and played significant minutes at center last year, making him a potential breakout star this year.
One notable absence from the team this year will be junior Calvin Johnson, who decided to sit out the basketball season and focus more on football, where the Spartans will play in the Division 3A Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. Johnson put up a team-high 18 points in the Spartans’ title win over Maynard.
“It’s certainly going to be tough not having Calvin out there, but we obviously support his decision,” said Brown. “That’s sometimes what happens when you’re great at multiple sports.”
St. Mary’s also lost senior forward Joe Fama to graduation, but his younger brother Stephen, who played significant minutes last year as a sophomore, will try to fill that void as a junior. Another player returning with plenty of playing experience is sophomore guard Jalen Echevarria, who will be the spark off the bench with his solid shooting abilities.
“Having those young guys that will be able to come off the bench and add a spark will be a nice boost,” said Brown. “Those guys made a lot of progress last year, so it’ll be exciting to see what they’re going to do this year.”
One thing that Brown has noticed, even on the first day of practice, is how hard his team works.
“These guys all worked so hard in the offseason,” he said. “You can tell they’re committed to this and they want to win, which is more than half the battle.”
But with all the returning talent and the positive attitudes, there is also a sense that everyone is gunning for the Spartans.
“We already know that we have a huge target on our backs this year,” said Brown. “But at the same time, that’s a motivating factor for these guys. They know they’re going to have to play hard to win every day, and that’s what we’re going to go out there and do.”
St. Mary’s has a week and a half of practice time before suiting up for Game No. 1 next Friday night. It’ll be a big one right out of the gate, with a matchup against Division 2 state champion New Mission, who went 23-3 last year.
“It’s a great way to test ourselves right away,” Brown said. “They’re always a great team with great coaching and great talent, and we know we’ll be in for a tough matchup. We’ve just got to take this practice time and prepare as hard as we can.”
The Spartans will host New Mission to open the season on Friday, December 9 at 7 p.m.