John Carey can envision his team being successful in CHSAA Class AA this year. The longtime All Hallows boys basketball coach has the formula, to be what he calls “a poor man’s Villanova.”
“I think what we have to do is be one of those tenacious scrappy teams, like a thorn in your side,” Carey said. “On offense we just have to be one of those teams that creates mismatches time and time again. We’re small and we have to make plays off the bounce, keep moving and be hard to guard.”
The Gaels return a veteran group of seniors and juniors, led by Raz Council and Ethan Hamlet, who saw a lot of floor time as sophomores last season. Carey said one of the keys to the season will be their continued development.
Leadership and plenty of minutes should come from senior guards Jon Brens and Marcus George. Brint Brenson, one of the team’s bigger players at 6-foot-3, will see time this year after not playing much in 2010-11. Another senior guard, Darius Dow, is out with an injured back after a delivery truck sideswiped a bus he was on last week.
“I don’t know if we have any one particular strength,” Carey said. “We need to be conscious of not turning the ball over and just being as efficient as we can on offense. We have to spread the court, make shots and create some defensive openings.”
A pleasant surprise in the offseason has been Davon Robinson – not because of his improvement, just due to his presence. He was disgruntled and quit the team last season in December, but has returned with a new attitude. Carey is happy to have him back.
“He needs to be a pretty big part of our offense,” the coach said. “He’s a good player.”
All Hallows has had spurts of success the past few seasons. The Gaels won seven in a row after a tough start last year and were beating Rice by three at halftime in the CHSAA Archdiocesan quarterfinals. It was just three seasons ago that the Bronx squad was in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional semifinals.
So All Hallows, despite its lack of size, can’t be counted out in revamped CHSAA Class AA.
“Our goal is to be competitive as much as we can,” Carey said. “I don’t want to put out a set number of wins. I think as we go along we’ll get better and that’s all I can ask for.”