By Jeff Appelblatt
Colts Neck High School boys’ basketball coach Lou Piccola wasn’t totally sure what to expect in the Cougars’ season opener Dec. 16.
His entire starting lineup from a year ago graduated, and his team was making the switch from the Shore Conference’s B North Division to A North. But in the first game of the year, last year’s NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV champions immediately showed Piccola and the rival from Howell High School that this year’s team has plans to be a contender once again.
Behind 25 points from Danny Gaines, the Cougars marched into Howell and defeated the Rebels, 65-56. The not-so-known scorer played in only five games last season, sinking only three hoops. With the departure of last year’s top scorers, though, Gaines quickly proved he’s ready to show what he can do. He got to 25 points making baskets from all over — he knocked down three shots from downtown, six from the inside, and he sunk four free throws.
But it was far from a one-man show.
Howell’s Naseim Brantley matched the 25 points of the Colts Neck junior, but while Brantley saw only one teammate add on more than one field goal, Gaines saw five of his. With 14 baskets between them, Rob Hill scored 12 points, Ben Bosland and Brendan Clarke had 10 and Chris Aquinas and Matt Volk posted four.
Looking back at last season, Clarke was the focal point of Howell’s defense. While he averaged 6.3 points last season and knocked down the game-winner to wrap up the state sectional title, Gaines, Hill, Bosland, Aquinas and Volk combined for fewer than 10 points per outing.
But trick was on the Rebels. Piccola knew Clarke wasn’t going to be his squad’s go-to guy.
“He’s a leader,” Colt Neck’s coach said the day before the match in Howell. “[But] he’s not ready to take over the team.”
Even if Gaines is ready to score as often as he did in the opener, the Cougars demonstrated that they’ll need to continue with a balanced attack to make an impact in their new division. Piccola anticipates many teams in the conference to be very competitive.
“A lot of teams have full squads back,” the coach said. “There’s a lot of parody this year.”
Before Piccola became the face of the basketball team at Colts Neck, a school that first opened in 1998, he won 274 games as basketball coach at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to last year’s state sectional title with Colts Neck, Piccola led his team to a New York championship at Xaverian in 1981.
The coach isn’t sure how soon another title will come, but he’s ready for the attempt.
“Hopefully, we can develop and get a little bit better,” Piccola said about this year’s team. “And then we’ll see what we can do.”
Colts Neck was schedled to play its first home game of the year Dec. 20 against division rival Marlboro High School. The Mustangs held on to win their opener, 39-38, over Neptune High School, even though they scored only four points in the fourth quarter.
