St. Ed’s boys basketball team will be a longshot to get past the first week of February in the district playoffs, but that doesn’t in any way detract from a season that eclipsed all training camp predictions and sent coaches, players and fans away with a bundle of enduring memories.
The Pirates concluded the regular season last Friday night with an easy 87-22 victory over Glades Day. It was also the traditional Senior Night honoring four players suiting up for the last time at home.
One of those seniors, shooting guard Bobby Barker, was unstoppable with a career-high 43-point outburst. He will have at least one game this week to make up the 27 points needed to reach 1,000 for his career.
Fellow seniors Nick Duncan, Sean Kenney and Sammie Kelly also entertained the crowd for the last time by contributing a combined 21 points to the rout. All told, 10 players found their way into the scoring column as the Pirates climbed to 15-9.
St. Ed’s held down the fifth seed going into the Feb. 3 opener of the District 13-3A tournament against Benjamin.
“We tied for third with two other teams but wound up seeded fifth by losing several tiebreakers,” coach Greg Zugrave explained. “We beat Benjamin here by 17 points and then lost down there by one point at the buzzer in overtime. So it’s a game we feel we can win.
“Unfortunately if we win that game we’ll be matched up against the No. 1 seed, Florida Air Academy, on Friday. That’s a very good team as everyone knows. But we’re just taking it one game at a time. We’ll worry about that game when we get to it.”
Meanwhile, his team peaked late with five consecutive wins going into the playoffs.
“We had a great season and a lot of things come to mind,” Zugrave said. “Going down to Miami and playing in American Airlines Arena (the Pirates won that game going away) was certainly one of the highlights of the year for me and the guys.
“Participating in the Pine School Holiday Tournament was also quite exciting for us, especially beating a very good Barron Collier team in the first round. We came up just short in the second game but rebounded to win the finale. Bobby Barker made the All-Tournament team.
“But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the most exciting event of the year. On Saturday January 24th we beat John Carroll in front of a completely overfilled gymnasium full of crazy, screaming fans. Brian Carter was two steals short of a triple double and Bobby Barker scored 38 points, all against an archrival with some of their former teammates. That was an incredible part of the season.”
The season-long performances of Bobby Barker stood out with six games of 30 points or more. An outstanding shooter from behind the arc, Barker had 40 three-pointers to bolster his 21.3 scoring average.
“Bobby has done everything we’ve asked him to do,” Zugrave said. “We will miss his scoring immensely. I’m not sure where his career point total ranks him, but I’m sure it’s near the top of the list.
“He battled through some ankle and knee injuries this year that a lot of people didn’t know about. He’s just a tough kid and he fought his way through it all. He rarely missed a game or time on the court in his three years here. We are really going to miss him.”
Duncan, Kelly and Kenney also finished strong. Duncan had a season-high 15 points against Klein Academy last week. Kelly tied teammate Kishore Chundi for second with 15 three-point field goals made. Kenney was a model of consistency all season long, finishing second in rebounding to Brian Carter and averaging just under seven points per game.
“A lot of things Nick Duncan did for us went unnoticed. He worked hard all the way. Sammie Kelly I’m sure will be remembered for his three-point shooting. Sean Kenney really helped us tremendously down low. We were a different team this year because of his size and strength.”
Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, tacking on at least 15 more victories may be the best coaching job in Zugrave’s four years at St. Ed’s. Four winning seasons in a row were certainly not the norm before his arrival. The Glades Day victory raised his career record to 64-33.
Zugrave was previously recognized for his exemplary work (named 2012 District 19-3A Coach of the Year and 2014 All Area Coach of the Year) and the program has thrived under his tenure at St. Ed’s.
He expects to return for a fifth season in 2015-16, telling us “I’m not going anywhere. I love it here.”