St. Ed’s varsity boys basketball team opened the regular season at home last week by whipping a severely overmatched Somerset College Prep Academy team 61-11.
Bobby Barker poured in 30 points as the Pirates jumped out to 27-0 lead before the visitors put a two-pointer on the board early in the second period.
Two days later Barker and Company traveled north for an encounter with Melbourne Central Catholic, the team that ended the Pirates spectacular 2013-14 season with a knockout blow in the first round of the district playoffs.
Barker had a game- high 25 points but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Pirates fell 80-54. The takeaway wasn’t entirely negative however, because this setback won’t appear in the district standings.
“We voted at the coaches meeting to count only one district game with each opponent,” largely because most teams didn’t want to be tagged with two probable losses to Florida Air Academy, Head Coach Greg Zugrave explained. “We play some district teams twice, others once. Our first district game (that counts) is Dec. 5 at home against Jupiter Christian. By that time we should establish an identity and have a good sense of what our rotation will be.”
The quirk in scheduling was beneficial this time, but the MCC game revealed that St. Ed’s will probably be a longshot at best to achieve a goal that never changes, the regional playoffs. But that’s a long way off.
“Right now we’re trying to figure out how we can best gel as a team,” Zugrave said. “We don’t have a definitive starting lineup and we don’t have a lot of size. Obviously Barker will always start, as will Brian Carter when he is healthy. We see Sean Kenney as one of our big guys this year. The other spots are up for grabs. That makes our practices competitive and creates some good team camaraderie.”
Barker at shooting guard is really the only proven commodity right now. Carter is nursing a hip injury and the timetable for his return is uncertain. They were starters on the 21-5 team from a year ago. Otherwise the roster is limited in varsity experience.
Outside shooting and a quick, trapping defense are assets Zugrave can rely on in certain match-ups. His guys drained 11 threes in the first two games. Somerset was forced into numerous turnovers with a pressure man-to-man defense. Zugrave went to a zone against an MCC club featuring skilled ball handlers.
“We’re mostly a perimeter scoring team,” Barker said. “I know I’m the main option on offense. Most of our plays are designed to go through me, but we do have a lot of good outside shooters that we can kick the ball out to. Aside from Brian, we don’t have much of an inside or post-up game.
“I think we will be able to press some teams because of our quickness on defense. We might have lost some talent from last year, but I think we’ll make up for that with better chemistry. We are working together more cohesively, especially on defense.”
The lost talent that Barker spoke of, Brock Miller and Will Summler, transferred to John Carroll, thereby posing some intrigue for the New Year.
“John Carroll is absolutely on everybody’s mind,” starting point guard Nick Duncan said. “We all know that date on a Saturday night in January (the 24th). We’ve been rivals for a few years and now that a couple of our former players are on their team, the tension will be even higher. It’s going to be really crazy.”
Duncan was a rising tennis star as a freshman, but gave the game up in favor of basketball. He concurred with Barker about team chemistry. “This is the best group of guys you could ask for. We are all down to earth and get along really well. We know how to pick each other up.”
Kenney (6’ 2” 185 lbs.) returned as a senior after sitting out a year. He said “I knew from the beginning that Coach Zugrave needed someone with size to help out down low. They needed me for defense and rebounding, so it was important for me to come back.
“I can take a few hits every now and then when I go up against somebody with bulk. I just have to battle and try not to foul. I think of grabbing a rebound as scoring one point for the team. That’s the mentality a big guy has to have, especially if you’re not scoring many points. That’s what keeps me motivated.” Kenney also pointed to John Carroll for a little extra motivation.
The road ahead is paved with tough district games against Florida Air Academy, MCC (again) and John Carroll. In recent years FAA has been a college team masquerading in high school jerseys, and a full house is expected for John Carroll.
