By Anthony Bosco
But there is parity, in some form, in a league described by some as the best and most competitive in the country.
“I think it's going to be the most even of all time,” said Molloy head coach Jack Curran. “Nobody's a standout. I think everybody's about the same.”
Curran's team is expected to be competing with Christ the King and Brooklyn's Bishop Loughlin for the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan championship and a No. 1 seed in the citywide playoffs.
Leading the way for Molloy are two talented seniors in forward Wendell Gibson and swingman John Sikiric. Gibson has already committed to Hofstra, while Sikiric is still fielding Division I offers.
The two Molloy stars may be the most feared tandem in the division this year, making Molloy the team to beat. The Stanners are coming off a 17-10 record and a season that ended prematurely after Gibson was lost to a season-ending injury.
Joining Gibson and Sikiric are No. 2 guard Thomas Harrison and seniors Sime Marnike and John Jermott, as well as a host of younger players up from a junior varsity squad that won the city championship last year.
Stephon Cherry and Jamaal Wagner are probably the best of that group, which also included Devon Viffley, Kevin Hamilton and John Masur, who also plays for Curran on the baseball team. Sophomore Marlon Smith, a transfer from Dwight, is highly touted, but unproven on the varsity level.
“I think we'll be OK, but it's going to take about half the season,” said Curran, whose team was swamped by All Hollows in its opener. “We have to start our practice season a lot earlier. They don't give us enough time to get ready.”
The Christ the King Royals lost two major Division I players in Omar Cook and Zack Williams to graduation last year, a season that saw the team ousted in the quarterfinals and finish just 19-9. Still, head coach Bob Oliva is hopeful about the upcoming year.
“We're going to be a tough out come February,” Oliva said. “These kids work hard. They love being in the gym.”
The two key players on the team will be forward Teedy Nelson and 6-foot-6 Rob Barrett, who is headed for Central Connecticut State next year. Nelson was hurt most of last season and Barrett was the Royals' sixth man.
They will be joined by Mitchell Buford, Japhette McNeil and Brian Williams, who will likely round out the starting five.
Also expected to make contributions this year are Alex Dinka, Sharod Tomlinson, Anthony Negraneau, Michael Englert, Kelvin Nelson, Eric Martin, Brian Williams and Willie Miller, most of whom are from what Oliva calls “the next generation” of players up from the city runner-up JV squad and the city title winning freshman team.
“The freshman and sophomore class are big and talented,” said Oliva, who added that how his team reacts to losing a few games early will be a big key to the rest of the season. “We're going to get hit, we just have to see how we're going to take the hit. That's going to be the key to this team early. I think they're confident. They don't expect to lose.”
With defending B/Q title holder Loughlin also vying for the top spot, led by Curtis Sumpter and Teddy Mumford, the rest of the league, including Brooklyn's Xaverian, will compete for the fourth slot. Xaverian is a team that could very easily make a move on the top three teams, but that move will likely come next year.
St. Francis Prep had a standout 1999-2000 campaign, finishing with a stellar 20-8 record. But most of that team is gone, leaving only two starters – Rashad Bell and Kevin White – to try and build on that success.
Bell could be the most improved player in the division according to coach Tim Leary, now entering his 28th season at the helm of the Terriers.
“He's made tremendous improvement, there's no question about that,” Leary said. “But one or even two players in our league is not going to make you one of the better teams. People are going to key on him. Rashad Bell is no longer a secret. It's going to be hard for him.”
Mike Devardo will probably be the team's starting point guard, while Rich Henderson, EJ Kapela, Kevin Collins, Joe Visco, Ken Feeley, Chris Lanci and Sean Greene will all vie for playing time. Leary said he has mixed up his lineup in scrimmages and has yet to decide on a starting five.
“We're struggling right now,” Leary said. “We're really going to struggle at the guard position. We still have some time. I'm not saying that come the end of the year we're not going to be OK. We're cautious about where we're at right now.”
Monsignor McClancy made some waves late last season, salvaging a less-than-great regular season, 13-14, with a trip to the quarterfinals. But the team has lost its leading scorer, Daryl Boykins, to graduation, and now must rely on the supporting players to find success again.
Kevin Bishop and Tremaine Stevens are coach Don Kent's two top players. Bishop recently scored 34 points against Hillcrest in the Campus Magnet Classic to lead the Crusaders back from a 23-point second half deficit en route to a 64-53 win. Stevens is a three-year starter who will play the point again for Kent.
The tandem played together for Kent on the silver medal-winning Empire State Games team over the summer.
“Both of these kids have to provide leadership and have to kind of carry us this year,” Kent said.
Joining Bishop and Stevens in the starting lineup will be 6-foot-3 junior forward Elvis Damjanovic, 5-foot-10 junior guard Anthony Mauceri and Bishme Allah, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior center.
Also on the team will be Nelson Tripp, Jordan Diminich, Anthony Olszewski and Wesley Matthews, whose father played for Kent at Christ the King.
“We'll be battling, hopefully, for fourth place,” Kent said. “I'm not selling my kids short, but that golden triangle is there year in and year out. This is a very, very tough league. It's going to be tough for us to crack the top three.”
Holy Cross is another team that played well last season, including an upset over Christ the King in the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan Tournament. The team returns seven seniors this year, only losing two from last year's club, Ossie Oyagha and Ray Diaz.
“I think we have a good high school team,” said head coach Paul Gilvary. “I think we'll be very competitive. I'm really looking forward to the season. It should be a lot of fun. Unfortunately we play in a league where being a good high school team is sometimes not enough.”
Chris Fileti leads the charge for the Knights this year, along with Pierre Ward, Adam Frederic and Sean Wallace, all of whom have played for Gilvary since their sophomore years. Michael Howell, Joe Marino, Marc Lashley, Madsin Nerestant and Ray Maisonet will also fight for time on the floor.
No Knight stands taller than 6-foot-4, which would usually be a problem, but this year will not be such a handicap in a division hardly teeming with tree toppers.
'They're pretty talented players,” Gilvary said. “We handle the ball pretty well and we shoot the ball pretty well, we're just a little small.”
Gilvary agreed that the teams in the league are a little closer this year, but said he still thinks the teams expected to be at the top will dominate, while the rest will have to scrap for wins, as usual.
“I think there's less of a gap between the top team than the rest of the league than there has been in recent years,” he said. “There's no one McDonald's All-American type or future pro player that no one can stop. I think that's a good thing for the league.”
